Two airport workers accused of hacking surveillance video of deadly DC plane crash and leaking it to CNN
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Two airport employees have been arrested after police say they illegally obtained footage of the collision between an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter last week in Washington, D.C.
Employees Mohamed Lamine Mbengue, 21, and Jonathan Savoy, 45, were arrested and charged with computer trespass after allegedly making unauthorized copies of the footage, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police said.
The footage, which showed the jet and helicopter colliding mid-air before exploding into flames and falling into the Potomac River, was later leaked to CNN.
Mbengue was charged with the misdemeanor Friday, the same day CNN aired the exclusive surveillance footage, and later released on his own recognizance from the Arlington County Adult Detention Center. Savoy was then charged Sunday and released on a summons by the magistrate, police said.
All 67 people on board both aircraft are believed to have died in the collision Wednesday evening, officials said. Crews have recovered and identified at least 55 bodies while searching the Potomac River.
On Monday, crews from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began using large cranes to remove the wreckage of the jet.
The crash marked the deadliest U.S. air disaster in nearly 25 years.
More to come…
