Two individuals working for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority have been taken into custody due to the unauthorized release of footage showing an American Airlines aircraft colliding with an Army helicopter.
The incident occurred as the aircraft, with 60 passengers and four crew members on board, was on its approach to Reagan National Airport when it was struck by a Black Hawk Army helicopter involved in a training exercise.
Footage of the extraordinary incident quickly went viral, sparking frenzied conspiracy theories online.
That video was leaked to CNN by two members of staff at the airport, authorities now say, according to ABC.
The duo have been charged with computer trespass for allegedly making the unauthorized copy from Airports Authority records.
Washington DC’s airspace is notoriously congested and there have been mounting fears that a tragedy was on the horizon.
According to former House Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Peter DeFazio, policymakers had disregarded prior alerts in order to introduce more flight paths aimed at enhancing travel convenience for themselves.
‘Every senator in particular wants a nonstop flight to and from wherever they live,’ he said.
Video from an observation camera at the nearby Kennedy Center shows two sets of lights consistent with aircraft appearing to conjoin in a fireball
A large portion of the damaged plane fuselage is lifted from the Potomac River during recovery efforts after the American Airlines crash on February 03, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia
‘The airport said, ”Don’t do it.” And they did it. So they added to what DCA said is already an overly congested and over-capacity airport.’
Since 2000, an additional 60 flights have been added into the airport.
Disturbing footage of Wednesday night’s crash raised questions about how it possibly could have occurred, given it was a relatively clear night and the plane was visible in the path of the helicopter.
The National Transportation Safety Board revealed that preliminary data from the Black Hawk helicopter and passenger jet showed conflicting readings about their altitudes at the time of the catastrophic collision.
Data from the passenger jet’s flight recorder showed its altitude as 325 feet, plus or minus 25 feet, when the crash happened Wednesday night. Data in the control tower, though, showed the Black Hawk helicopter at 200 feet at the time.
The 100-foot discrepancy is yet to be explained, but if the impact did occur at 325ft, the crash would have occurred well-above the maximum allowed altitude of 200ft for helicopters in the area.
Investigators hope to reconcile the altitude differences with data from the helicopter’s black box, which is taking more time to retrieve because it became waterlogged after it plunged into the Potomac River. They also said they plan to refine the tower data, which can be less reliable.
‘That’s what our job is, to figure that out,’ said NTSB member Todd Inman, who grew increasingly agitated with reporters’ questions seeking more information and clarity about the readings during a Saturday evening news conference.
A forensic team collects a piece of debris from the Potomac River
The accident occurred when an American Airlines jet from Wichita, Kansas collided with the Black Hawk over Washington DC Wednesday night, killing all 67 people aboard the two aircraft
No one survived the collision, which occurred as an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, with 64 people on board was preparing to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport
Investigator in charge, Brice Banning, described the investigation as ‘complex’, noting: ‘There are a lot of pieces here. Our team is working hard to gather this data.’
Banning also discussed the last moments from the jet’s two black boxes, which captured sound in the cockpit and flight data.
‘The crew had a verbal reaction,’ he said, with the data recorder showing ‘the airplane beginning to increase its pitch.
‘Sounds of impact were audible about one second later, followed by the end of the recording.’
First responders confirmed Sunday that 55 of the 67 victims of America’s deadliest crash since 2001 have been identified.
This is a breaking news story. More to come.
