A wayward and unresponsive business pl🅠ane that flew over the nation's capital Sunday afternoon caused the military to scramble a fighter jet before the plane crashed in Virgi♔nia, officials said. The fighter jet caused a loud sonic boom that was heard across the capital region.
Hours laterღ, police said rescuerღs had reached the site of the plane crash in a rural part of the Shenandoah Valley and that no survivors were found.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the Cessna Citation took off from Elizabethtown, Tennessee, on Sunday and was headed for Long Island's MacArthur Airport. Inexplicably, the plane turned around over New York's Long Island and flew a straight path down over D.C. before it crashed over mountainous t🌃errain ne💟ar Montebello, Virginia, around 3:30 p.m.
It was not immediately clear why the plane was nonresponsive, why it crashed or how many people were on board. The plane flew directly over the nation's capital, though it was technically flying above some of the most heavily restricted airspace in the na⛦tion.
A U.S. official confirmed to The Aꦉssociated Press that the military jet had scrambled to respond to the small plane, which wasn't responding to radio transmissions and later crashed. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the military operation and spokꦬe on condition of anonymity.
Flight tr🥂acking sites showed the jet suffered a rapi🌼d 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.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command later 🌼said in a statement that the F-16 was authorized to travel at supersonic speeds, which caused a sonic boom that was heard in Washington and parts of Virgi🔥nia and Maryland.
“During this event, the NORAD aircꦇraft 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.”
Virginia State Police said officers were notified of ไthe potential crash shortly before 4 p.m. and rescuers reac🍸hed the crash site by foot around four hours later. No survivors were found, police said.
The plane that crashed was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc, which is based in Florida. 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.
Rumpel, a pilot, told the newspaper he didn't have much in🔥formation from authorities but hoped his family didn't suffer and suggested ꦰthe plane could've lost pressurization.
“I don't think they've found the w𒀰reckage yet,” Rumpel told the newspaper. “It descended at 20,000 feet a minute, and nobody could survive a crash from that speed.”
A woman who identified herself as Barbara Rumpel, listed as the president of the company, said she had no comment Sunday when reached by The Associatᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚed Press.
The episode brought back memories of the 1999 crash of a Learjet that lost cabin pressure and flew aimlessly across the country𓃲 with professional golfer Payne Stewart aboard. The jet crashed in a South Dakota pasture and six people died.
President Joe Biden was playing golf 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. B𓆏iden was playing golf at the Maryland military base with his brother in the afternoon.
A White House official said the president had 𝓰bꦅeen briefed on the crash and that the sound of the scrambling aircraft was faint at Joint Base Andrews
