DC crash update as two airport workers arrested over 'leaked horror footage'
DC crash update as two airport workers arrested over 'leaked horror footage'
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Two employees at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport have been arrested - accused of unlawfully leaking footage of last week's fatal plane crash. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) staff members are alleged to have made unauthorised copies of records relating to the Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet collision that claimed the lives of all 67 people on board.
The pair now face charges of computer trespass. In the wake of the tragedy, salvage teams have retrieved an engine and large sections of fuselage, and are currently working to recover a wing from the wreckage of the commercial airliner involved in the midair collision near Washington's Reagan National Airport, officials announced on Monday. Further human remains have also been recovered from the Potomac River, although specifics were not disclosed, with officials only confirming that 55 of the 67 victims have been found and identified since the crash on Wednesday.
Authorities anticipate that the operation to remove the plane will span several days, after which they will focus on removing the military helicopter involved. The collision between the American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter over Washington DC, reports the Mirror US. The crash marks the deadliest US air disaster since 2001. More than 300 responders are participating in the recovery effort at any given time, according to officials. Two Navy barges have also been deployed to lift heavy wreckage.
Washington, DC Fire Department Assistant Chief Gary Steen expressed confidence at a news briefing that all of the victims would be found. Divers and salvage crews are following stringent protocols, including halting debris removal when human remains are found, revealed US Army Corps of Engineers Col. Francis Pera. He emphasised that the "dignified recovery" of remains is the top priority in the operation.
It has been confirmed no one travelling in both the plane and the chopper survived - and the identities of the victims are being disclosed to the media in stages. So far, The Mirror knows a group of figure skaters were killed, all from the same sports club they had been representing at a competition in Kansas. These include popular 13-year-old TikTok skating star Jinna Han, and sisters Everly and Alydia Livingston, aged 14 and 11 respectively.
