US plane crashes after fighter jet scramble

WASHINGTON — A wayward and unresponsive business plane that flew over the United States' capital on Sunday afternoon caused the military to scramble a fighter jet before the plane crashed in Virginia, officials said. The fighter jet caused a loud sonic boom that was heard across the capital region.

Hours later, police said rescuers reached the site of the plane crash in a rural part of Shenandoah Valley and no survivors were found.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the Cessna Citation took off from Elizabethton, 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 DC before it crashed over mountainous terrain near Montebello, Virginia, around 3:30 pm.

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 nation.

A US official confirmed to The Associated Press that the military jet had scrambled to respond to the small plane, which was not responding to radio transmissions. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the military operation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

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 (9,144 meters per minute) before crashing in the Saint Mary's Wilderness.

Sonic boom

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 Virginia and Maryland.

"During this event, the NORAD aircraft also used flares — which may have been visible to the public — in an attempt to draw attention of the pilot," the statement said.

Virginia State Police said officers were notified of the potential crash shortly before 4 pm and rescuers reached 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.

Rumpel, a pilot, told the newspaper he did not have much information from the authorities, but hoped his family did not suffer and suggested the plane could have lost pressurization.

"I don't think they've found the wreckage yet," Rumpel told the newspaper.

US President Joe Biden was playing golf at Joint Base Andrews around the time the fighter jet took off. Anthony Guglielmi, spokesman for the US Secret Service, said the incident had no impact on the president's movements on Sunday.

A White House official said the president had been briefed on the crash and that the sound of the scrambling aircraft was faint at Joint Base Andrews.

Agencies Via Xinhua