Four people died in a plane that flew over the nation's capital and crashed in southwest Virginia Sunday afternoon, including the pilot and three passengers, Virginia State Police said.
This caused D.C. Air National Guard F-16s to scramble to investigate the aircraft that had entered a flight-restricted area, according to a U.S. official, resulting in a fighter jet making a sonic boom that was heard across the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area. The North American Aerospace Defense Command later said in a statement that the F-16 was authorized to travel at supersonic speeds.
“During this event, the NORAD aircraft also used flares — which may have been visible to the public — in an attempt to draw attention from the pilot,” the statement said. “Flares are employed with highest regard for safety of the intercepted aircraft and people on the ground. Flares burn out quickly and completely and there is no danger to the people on the ground when dispensed.”
The plane, a Cessna Citation, was flying a strange flight path over the D.C. area, officials said. The Federal Aviation Administration said the Cessna Citation took off from Elizabethton, Tennessee, on Sunday and was headed for Long Island’s MacArthur Airport.
Pilots of the F-16s discovered that the Cessna Citation pilot was passed out. The F-16 pilots also tried waking up the pilot. The plane was intercepted at approximately 3:20 p.m. in Maryland about 20 miles northeast of Reagan National Airport, per ABC News.
The plane turned around over New York’s Long Island and flew a straight path down over D.C. before it crashed over mountainous terrain near Montebello, Virginia, around 3:50 p.m. It had been supposed to land at Long Island MacArthur Airport, but although it flew right over that airport, it stayed at close to 34,000 feet in altitude and never descended, according to the flight tracking website Flightradar24. It was still at that altitude when it flew over DC.
The plane crashed in mountainous terrain near the George Washington National Forest, in southwest Virginia., NORAD said. The Flightradar24 tracking data shows it did not descend at all until not far from the crash sight near Montebello, Virginia. Experts speculate the plane ran out of fuel.
Flight tracking sites showed the jet suffered a rapid spiraling descent, dropping at one point at a rate of more than 30,000 feet per minute before crashing in the St. Mary’s Wilderness.
Virginia State Police said troopers were notified of the potential crash shortly before 4 p.m. Authorities were still working to find the plane on Sunday evening, but hadn’t been able to locate the crash site because of the mountainous terrain.
Crews couldn't fly over the crash site because of fog and low clouds.
Virginia State Police said that shortly before 8 p.m., first responders were able to reach the crash site by foot and that no survivors were found. State police suspended search efforts, Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said.
The plane that crashed was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc.
John Rumpel, who runs the company, told The New York Times that his daughter, 2-year-old granddaughter, her nanny and the pilot were aboard the plane. They were returning to their home in East Hampton, on Long Island, after visiting his house in North Carolina, he said. A woman who identified herself as Barbara Rumpel, who is listed as the president of the company in Melbourne, Florida, said she had no comment Sunday when reached by a reporter for The Associated Press.
On Monday, VSP and NTSB officials returned to the plane crash site to collect evidence and recover the bodies. The remains collected at the scene will be taken to the Office of the Virginia Medical Examiner for examination, autopsy and positive identification.
Did You Hear It?
7News received several reports of sounds of an "explosion" in the D.C. region.
Twitter user Jennifer Donelan said, "Whatever that was it shook the house in Annapolis. My mom felt and heard it in Fairfax. What happened that could cause that? #explosion"
The hashtags #explosion and #boom were trending for hours on Twitter.
"The house rocked, the windows rattled, and it was done like that. We were obviously freaked out a little bit," said Chuck Martin, who heard and felt the boom in Fairfax County.
President Joe Biden was playing golf with his brother at Joint Base Andrews around the time the fighter jet took off. Anthony Guglielmi, spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service, said the incident had no impact on the president’s movements Sunday.
A White House official said: “The President was briefed on the incident. The sound resulting from the authorized DOD aircraft was faint at JBA.”
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The Associated Press contributed to this story.