The U.S. scrambled F-16 fighter jets at supersonic speeds Sunday after the small plane crashed in Virginia in an attempt to stop an errant plane from entering the nation’s highly restricted airspace near Washington, D.C. Dropped
According to Virginia State Police, no survivors were found at the scene of the crash in the rural area.
As per CNNFour people were on board the Cessna Citation aircraft.
The boom was caused by US fighter jets over Washington DC as they chased down light aircraft, causing panic among area residents.
According to officials, the fighters did not crash the small plane, which had 12 passengers on board.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement: “The US military attempted to contact the pilot, who was unresponsive until the Cessna crashed near the George Washington National Forest in Virginia.”
“The NORAD aircraft was authorized to travel at supersonic speeds and residents in the area may have heard a sonic boom,” the statement added, adding that “the NORAD aircraft attempted to attract the attention of the pilot by shooting flames.” Also used.”
“The plane took off from Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Elizabethton, Tennessee and was headed to New York’s Long Island MacArthur Airport, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Manhattan,” the FAA said in a statement. I was.” The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.”
Flight Aware, a flight-tracking website, noted that the Cessna was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne, Florida.
Encore owner John Rumple said The Washington Post That her daughter, a granddaughter and her nanny were on board.
It was not immediately clear what caused the plane to fly erratically.
He said he was returning to New York from his home in North Carolina. “It came down at 20,000 feet per minute, and no one can survive a crash at that speed,” Rumple noted.