Two airport workers with access to surveillance footage of the mid-air collision between a commercial airline and a military chopper, have been arrested for leaking the recording.
On Wednesday night (January 29), the US suffered its deadliest aviation disaster since 2001, with all 67 people involved in the Washington DC plane crash believed to be dead – although officials have only identified 55 of those.
As the pilots Jonathan Campos and Samuel Lilley, of Flight 5342, a PSA Airlines aircraft – owned by American Airlines – approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to land their 60 passengers and two fellow crew members, it collided with a Black Hawk helicopter.
The chopper was carrying three US soldiers taking part in a training expedition, while the jet was completing its two-hour-45-minute flight from Wichita, Kansas.
Now, two staffers working for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) have been arrested with claims that they made unauthorised copies of CCTV footage showing the moment of collision.
Authorities have been recovering parts of the aircraft from the Potomac River (Somodevilla/Getty Images)
On Friday (January 31), 21-year-old Mohamed Lamine Mbengue, of Rockville, Maryland, was charged with computer trespass ‘making an unauthorized copy of Airports Authority records’, spokesperson for MWAA Crystal Nosal, announced on Monday.
He was taken to Arlington County jail, in Virginia – across from the US capital, but has since been released.
While on Sunday (February 2), 45-year-old Jonathan Savoy, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was also arrested and charged with computer trespass – but like Mbengue, he has also been released from jail.
The two clips that the suspects are alleged to have made were obtained by CNN and show the devastating tragedy in clear detail.
The outlet described the videos stating that both aircrafts ‘can clearly be seen flying towards each other, then exploding and falling into the river after the fatal explosion’.
The tragedy saw 67 people die onboard both the American Airlines owned aircraft and the military chopper (Al Drago/Getty Images)
American Airlines issued a statement on the incident which reads: “American Eagle Flight 5342 en-route from Wichita, Kansas (ICT), to Washington, D.C. (DCA) was involved in an accident at DCA. The flight was operated by PSA Airlines with a CRJ-700.
“There were 60 passengers and four crew members on board the aircraft. Our concern is for the passengers and crew on board the aircraft. We are in contact with authorities and assisting with emergency response efforts.
“If you believe you may have loved ones on board Flight 5342, call American Airlines toll-free at 800-679-8215. Those calling from outside the U.S. can visit news.aa.com for additional phone numbers. Family members in Canada, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands can call 800-679-8215 directly.”
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An American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided last night with an army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington DC.
The crash prompted a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River, with around 300 emergency service workers rushing to the scene.
There were multiple fatalities, according to a person familiar with the matter, but the precise number of victims was unclear as rescue crews hunted for any survivors.
So far, 28 bodies have been recovered from the river that both the chopper and plane crashed into following the collision.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and the army chopper, but all take-offs and landings from the airport were halted as dive teams scoured the site and helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in a methodical search for bodies.
Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and what appeared to be the mangled wreckage of the plane’s fuselage.
Parts of the American Airlines plane are now visible in the Potomac River (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
What was first seen as a rescue mission is now seen as a recovery mission in light of it being presumed that there are no survivors.
“We are now at a point where we’re switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said during a sombre news conference on Thursday (January 30).
“At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident.”
Elsewhere, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said the wreckage of the American Airlines plane is in three parts.
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Around 300 emergency personnel rushed to the crash site last night (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
He said, as per CNN: “The fuselage of the American Airlines plane was inverted. It’s been located in three different sections. It’s in about waist-deep water, so that recovery is going to go on today.”
“As that recovery takes place of the fuselage of the aircraft, NTSB is going to start to analyze that aircraft, partner with the FAA with all the information we have to get the best results possible for the American people,” Duffy added.
Duffy also said that both aircrafts were on ‘standard flightpaths’ before the collision and that it’s ‘not unusual with a military aircraft flying the river and aircraft landing at DCA’.
Anyone who thinks they may know someone that was onboard Flight 5342 have been urged to call American Airlines toll-free at 800-679-8215.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact GrieveWell on (734) 975-0238, or email info@grievewell.com.
As Captain Jonathan Campos and First Officer Samuel Lilley hurtled 140mph towards the military helicopter, they made a last ditch attempt to save everyone onboard, data records show.
At 8.47pm ET on Wednesday (January 29), a PSA Airlines aircraft, which is owned by American Airlines, crashed into a Black Hawk helicopter that was carrying three US soldiers taking part in a training expedition.
The jet was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington DC, when the mid-air collision took place as Flight 5342 approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to land.
It was the deadliest plane crash in the US since 2001, and the nation’s first major aviation incident in the last 16 years, as the wreckage of both the chopper and the plane landed in the Potomac River, with 300 first responders rushing to provide aid – but sadly there were no survivors.
Now, data from the plane’s black box has recorded how the 34-year-old pilot Campos, and his 28-year-old co-pilot Lilley, had attempted to pull the plane up in the final few seconds before collision.
“At one point very close to the impact, there was a slight change in pitch, an increase in pitch,” Todd Inman, an official of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said at a press conference on Saturday (February 1).
Jonathan Campos and his uncle spoke as he was boarding the flight (Facebook)
The safety board also stated that preliminary data from the aircraft’s flight recorder differed from that of the control tower in its recording of the plane’s altitude at the time of collision (via CNN).
Data from the flight recorder had its altitude at around 325ft at the time of impact, while the control tower recorded the helicopter at 200ft.
While investigations are still ongoing, if the crash did take place at 325ft, it would have meant that the chopper had exceeded the maximum altitude helicopters are allowed to fly at in the area – which is 200ft.
Iman added that they don’t have the data from the helicopter, but ‘obviously an impact occurred, and I would say when an impact occurs, that is typically where the altitude of both aircraft were at the moment’.
Prior to the crash, Campos had a phone conversation with his uncle.
In an interview with the MailOnline, his uncle John Lane explained he spoke to his nephew ‘for 10 minutes’ as he was boarding the plane and he ‘sounded really happy’.
Co-pilot Sam Lilley tried to save his 60 passengers onboard, alongside pilot Campos (Sam Lilley/Facebook)
He said: “I can’t believe it. He sounded really happy. He was looking forward to going on a cruise next week on the Icon of the Seas, the cruise ship.
“Ten family members were going to fly to Florida to take the trip with him. It was going to be a big celebration.”
American Airlines issued a statement on the incident which reads: “American Eagle Flight 5342 en-route from Wichita, Kansas (ICT), to Washington, D.C. (DCA) was involved in an accident at DCA. The flight was operated by PSA Airlines with a CRJ-700.
“There were 60 passengers and four crew members on board the aircraft. Our concern is for the passengers and crew on board the aircraft. We are in contact with authorities and assisting with emergency response efforts.
“If you believe you may have loved ones on board Flight 5342, call American Airlines toll-free at 800-679-8215. Those calling from outside the U.S. can visit news.aa.com for additional phone numbers. Family members in Canada, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands can call 800-679-8215 directly.”
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact GrieveWell on (734) 975-0238, or email info@grievewell.com.
After the US suffered the deadliest plane crash since 2001 and its first major aviation incident in the last 16 years, President Donald Trump was asked by reporters whether he would be visiting the crash site.
At 8.47pm ET on Wednesday (January 29), a PSA Airlines aircraft, which is owned by American Airlines, crashed into a BlackHawk helicopter that was carrying three US soldiers taking part in a training expedition.
The jet was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington DC, when the mid-air collision took place as Flight 5342 approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to land.
The wreckage of both the chopper and the plane landed in the Potomac River, with 300 first responders rushing to provide aid – but sadly there were no survivors.
Now, while answering questions from the press, one reporter asked whether Trump would be paying the site a visit.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters about the collision (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Questionably, the 78-year-old replied: “I have a plan to visit, not the site. What’s the site? The water? You want me to go swimming?”
He then moved on explaining that it’s too early to draw conclusions of what happened, while also taking aim at the Biden administration for encouraging the Federal Aviation Administration to recruit its staff through the diversity, equity, and inclusion program.
He claimed that some of the workers ‘suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative’.
However, Trump did not provide evidence to suggest unqualified people were put in a critical position like flying the chopper, the plane or in air traffic control.
“They have to be talented, naturally talented geniuses,” he added. “You can’t have regular people doing their job.”
Taking to Truth Social in the hours following the incident, he posted: “The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport.
There were 67 fatalities when a BlackHawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines owned flight (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
“The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn.
“Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to do instead of asking if they saw the plane. This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!! What a terrible night this has been. God bless you all!”
After hours of scouring the river, DC Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly announced that the search and rescue operation was off, during a news conference yesterday (January 30).
“We are now at a point where we’re switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,” he said.
“At this point, we don’t believe there are any survivors from this accident.”
Two of the youngest victims of the fatal American Airlines plane crash have been revealed as a talented ice skating duo.
The American Airlines Flight had departed Wichita, Kansas, and was coming in to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when it collided mid-air with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter at around 9pm on Wednesday (January 29).
The plane was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members while three boarded the helicopter, both of which plunged into the Potomac River after the crash.
The wreckage of the aircrafts in the river (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
There are no survivors in what is shaping up to be the deadliest US air disaster in more than 20 years.
Now, two young ice dance partners, Angela Yang and Sean Kay, have been confirmed as two of the 67 dead.
The pair, believed to be 11 and 12-years-old, were members of the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club, and had been returning from the National Development Camp, held from January 20 to 26 in Kansas, to train top juvenile figure skaters.
The young girl said she had ‘lots of fun’ at the training camp (Instagram/@angelayangskates)
According to an obituary posted by a skating group on Facebook, the pair were ‘undefeated in juvenile ice dance this season’.
Footage of the duo’s performances in November has since gone viral online, which shows the pair expertly twirling around to applause.
They went on to win first place in several categories in the 2025 Midwestern Sectional Singles and US Ice Dance, held in Texas.
The skaters at the Texas competition in November (Instagram/@angelayangskates)
A spotlight story posted by the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club on Facebook said Yang started ice skating after being inspired by her siblings playing ice hockey.
UDFSC also said Kay was awarded the first in Excel Juvenile Plus Boys at the 2023 Excel Series Final.
On the day of the crash, Yang has also taken to Instagram to write that she had ‘so so much fun’ at the Wichita camp.
“I’m really gonna miss my friends and all the great coaches! I can’t wait for next year!” she wrote.
Their teacher, 46-year-old Alexandr ‘Sasha’ Kirsanov, was also killed, his widow told Delaware Online.
Natalia Gudin told the news outlet: “We always use American Airlines when we go to competition. This time they go without me, and all of them are gone.
““This young team – Sean Kay and Angela Yang – they were so amazing,” Gudin continued. “All the judges were so proud and they had such a big future. And what, all on the same plane?”
“For me, it’s a triple” loss, Gudin added.
Yang with her dancing partner, Kay (Instagram/angelayangskates)
Kirsanov was a professional ice dancer who had competed for the US, Azerbaijan and Russia, bagging a bronze medal in 2003.
The three are among several members of the sport who were on that fatal flight, as US Figure Skating confirmed dozens of its members had attended the training camp and the figure skating championships that were held in conjunction with the camp.
Among those killed were Boston’s skaters, Jinna Han, 13, and Spencer Lane, 16, as well as their mothers.
Coaches and couple, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, performing in the 1992 Winter Olympics (David Madison/Getty Images)
Lane also posted a heartbreaking final photo to his social media of the plane before it’s takeoff from Kansas.
Ice skating coaches and married couple, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were also on board as their ice skating son, Maxim, reportedly confirmed to Russian media.
The couple had won the World Championships in figure skating together three decades ago in 1994 and had reportedly been living in the US since at least 1998.
There were some concerns Maxim had also been on board but he is said to have left the competition on Monday with another American figure skater, Anton Spiridonov.
