2 Arrested For Allegedly Leaking D.C. Plane Crash Footage After Hacking

The two employees of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority are charged with computer trespass

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty

Authorities have charged two Washington D.C.-area airport employees with computer hacking, accusing them of accessing surveillance footage of last week's fatal mid-air collision near Ronald Reagan National Airport and leaking it to CNN.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) said in a statement that two employees had been charged with making an unauthorized copy of records belonging to the Airports Authority.

Mohamed Lamine Mbengue, 21, of Rockville, Md., was arrested and charged with computer trespass on Jan. 31, one day after an American Eagle flight from Wichita, Kan., collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River as the flight was preparing to land at Reagan Airport. All 67 people aboard both aircrafts in total are presumed dead.

Mbengue was booked into the Arlington County Adult Detention Center and released on his own recognizance, an MWAA spokesperson said.

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Two days later, on Feb. 2, another airport employee, 45-year-old Jonathan Savoy of Upper Marlboro, Md., was also arrested on a charge of computer trespass, MWAA said. He was released on a summons by a magistrate judge.

MWAA would not elaborate further on the nature of the arrests. But Mbengue's arrest came the same day that CNN published dramatic surveillance footage showing the moment of the crash. ABC News reported that the arrests were made in connection with the CNN footage.

CNN did not immediately return a request for comment.

The collision is the deadliest incident involving an American airliner on U.S. soil in nearly 25 years.

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