On Sunday, a US plane tracked an unresponsive Cessna jet that flown over the area and ultimately crashed in Virginia, causing a sonic boom that shook the Washington region.
The Cessna 560 Citation V, which flying over Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia when officials hailed it, was unresponsive, according to a statement from NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command. When rescuers arrived at the wreckage, no survivors were discovered, according to the Associated Press.
US Plane crashed near Virginia
The NORAD planes deployed to intercept the Cessna “were authorized to travel at supersonic speeds. Further a sonic boom may have been heard by residents of the region,” the statement said.
Additionally, North American Aerospace Defense Command planes fired flares to try and get the pilot’s attention. These flares may have been seen from the ground, according to the agency.
Until the aircraft left the area, the US Capitol Police claimed, the US Capitol Complex was momentarily placed on high alert. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre in New York. Further there are a lot of restrictions on airspace in the area around Washington.
According to a White House official, President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation.
The Cessna, a well-known twin-jet business aircraft initially debuted in 1987. It is said to be carrying four passengers, according to The New York Times.
According to an interview with John Rumpel, whose Florida-based Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc. owns the jet. Further they included a two-year-old daughter, her mother, her caretaker, and the pilot, the Times reported. Rumpel said that Cessna’s passenger list included his daughter and grandchildren.
FAA is Investigating the Mishap
After normal business hours, Encore Motors didn’t respond to a voicemail requesting a remark.
Around 3:30 pm, a Cessna Citation was confirmed to have crashed into a mountainous area in Montebello, Virginia by the Federal Aviation Administration.
According to the FAA, the plane departed Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Elizabethton, Tennessee. Subsequently it was headed for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York.
The crash occurred more than 100 miles (or 161 km) southwest of Washington. Before the jet’s crash in Virginia, NORAD reportedly made touch with the pilot. The National Transportation Safety Board announced that an investigation would be conducted.
The Cessna headed for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York when it was tracked by the tracking website Flightradar24. At a height of roughly 34,000 feet (10,400 meters). This is the small jet’s typical cruising altitude.
At 2:30 p.m. ET it turned and flew directly over the airport, but for the next 50 minutes or so it stayed in a straight line instead of descending or landing in the direction it had turned.
Flightradar24’s track of the aircraft shows that it flew right over Washington, including the White House and the extremely sensitive US Capitol.
Flight from Elizabethton Municipal Airport
According to Flightradar24 spokesman Ian Petchenik, shortly after reaching Charlottesville, Virginia, the aircraft made a sharp right turn and quickly dropped from 34,000 feet to 27,635 feet.
According to Petchenik, it was falling at a speed of around 20,000 feet per minute just before it vanished from the company’s tracking system.
Although the cause of the Cessna’s downing is still unknown, aeroplane autopilots in other incidents with unresponsive pilots have continued on a straight course after leaving the airfield.
Such descent speeds are extremely rare and may indicate that the aircraft ran out of fuel or experienced a breakup or malfunction in midair.
There is no threat related to the incident, according to the Anne Arundel County Office of Emergency Management in Maryland, which also confirmed on Twitter that the loud noise experienced by locals was caused by a sonic boom.
Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates.
Join us on Telegram Group for Latest Aviation Updates. Subsequently, follow us on Google News.
