• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Two airport workers arrested after 'leaked footage' of tragic American Airlines crash was released

Home> News> US News

Updated 08:46 4 Feb 2025 GMTPublished 08:29 4 Feb 2025 GMT

Two airport workers arrested after 'leaked footage' of tragic American Airlines crash was released

Two employees have been accused of leaking the footage of the fatal mid-air crash

Olivia Burke

Olivia Burke

Two airport workers have been arrested after allegedly leaking footage of the horror American Airlines crash.

A chilling video of the moment that the passenger plane collided with a US military helicopter began circulating in the days after the tragedy on 29 January.

The two clips, which were obtained exclusively by CNN, clearly showed the devastating mid-air crash in detail.

The news outlet explained that 'both aircraft can clearly be seen flying towards each other, then exploding and falling into the river after the fatal explosion'.

Officials confirmed they were not expecting to find any survivors after the crash, which sent both the plane and the helicopter plummeting into the Potomac River.

Advert

Recovery efforts remain ongoing to retrieve the bodies of the 64 people travelling on the American Airlines jet and the three soldiers on the helicopter.

US authorities believe that two Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) employees leaked the footage of the deadly crash to CNN, according to ABC News.

The pair have reportedly been charged with computer trespass after allegedly making an unauthorised copy of the footage from Airports Authority records.

The footage obtained by CNN captured the moment the aircraft collided and exploded (CNN)
The footage obtained by CNN captured the moment the aircraft collided and exploded (CNN)

Mohamed Lamine Mbengue was arrested two days after the crash on 31 January and charged with computer trespass under Virginia law, Fox 5 reports.

Advert

The 21-year-old, from Rockville, Maryland, was booked into the Arlington County Adult Detention Center and later released, an MWAA spokesperson said.

On Sunday (2 February), police then arrested Jonathan Savoy on the same charge.

The 45-year-old, from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was released on a summons by a magistrate.

Police did not specify how the pair allegedly obtained or distributed the footage.

LADbible has contacted the MWAA for comment.

Advert

Crews began the precarious process of removing pieces of the wreckages from the Potomac River on Monday (3 February), using large cranes to haul them out of the water.

Officials have started to remove the wreckages from the Potomac River (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Officials have started to remove the wreckages from the Potomac River (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The debris will be loaded onto trucks and taken away for further analysis.

The black boxes have already been recovered from both the plane and the helicopter, which will hopefully allow investigators to piece together what went wrong in the air.

In the latest update, officials said the bodies of 55 of the 67 victims had been recovered so far.

Advert

Emergency responders have spoken out about the huge mental toll retrieving the bodies has taken on them, with one firefighter saying that crews were 'emotionally wiped out'.

Over 300 responders are involved in the efforts at any given time, authorities said previously.

The investigation into the tragedy remains ongoing.

Featured Image Credit: CNN

Topics: American Airlines , Travel, US News, Crime

Olivia Burke
Olivia Burke

Olivia is a journalist at LADbible Group with more than five years of experience and has worked for a number of top publishers, including News UK. She also enjoys writing food reviews (as well as the eating part). She is a stereotypical reality TV addict, but still finds time for a serious documentary.

X

@livburke_

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

5 hours ago
8 hours ago
9 hours ago
  • 5 hours ago

    Disturbing prison letters from Chris Watts claim he’s ‘a new man’ after murdering wife and daughters

    The 40-year-old killer reportedly stated that he has 'forgiven' himself for taking the lives of his wife, two daughters and unborn child

    News
  • 8 hours ago

    Horrifying moment bullfighter dies after being picked up and slammed against wall by bull in front of crowd

    Shocking footage captured the moment Manuel Maria Trindade sustained his fatal injuries

    News
  • 9 hours ago

    'Stressful' simulation shows what it's like to live with ADHD

    TikToker Olivia Lutfallah created a simulator to help her followers understand what it's like to live with ADHD.

    News
  • 9 hours ago

    Gisèle Pelicot's daughter explains if she'll ever visit her dad after revealing she no longer speaks to mum

    Caroline Darian has previously admitted that she doesn't talk to her mother anymore

    News
  • Harrowing footage shows new view of tragic American Airlines crash that saw all onboard killed
  • Woman, 20, who died in tragic American Airlines crash was returning from grandad's funeral
  • Plane was forced to re-direct in near-miss with helicopter at same airport one day before American Airlines crash
  • New air traffic control data from tragic American Airlines crash reveals key information from incident