04 June 2023 , 21:03
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Rescuers have found the wreckage of a private plane that crashed into mountains as military fighter jets were scrambled causing a sonic boom.
Four people, including a two-year-old girl, were on board.
The sound of a huge explosion was heard in the area surrounding Washington DC as the US military responded to a private jet, that violated the nearby airspace before crashing in southwest Virginia.
A US official confirmed the military jet had scrambled to intercept the small plane, which wasn't responding to radio transmissions.
The loud sonic boom from the military fighter jet caused some residents in Washington DC and parts of Maryland and Virginia to panic.
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The private jet took off from Elizabethtown, Tennessee, and was headed for MacArthur Airport, New York before it turned around over Long Island and flew a straight path down over DC before it crashed over near Montebello.
Flight tracking sites showed the jet suffered a rapid spiralling descent, dropping more than 30,000 feet per minute before crashing in the St Mary's Wilderness
It was not immediately clear why it crashed. President Joe Biden has been briefed on the incident.
Four hours after the incident police said rescuers had reached the site of the plane crash in a rural part of the Shenandoah Valley and that no survivors were found.
Dozens of people reported hearing a loud 'explosion' in the Washington DC area that shook houses and caused panic (Twitter)The private jet was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc. John Rumpel, who runs the company with wife Barbara, told the New York Times that his daughter, two-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.
Mr Rumpel, a prominent MAGA donor, said: “It descended at 20,000 feet a minute, and nobody could survive a crash from that speed.”
In response to the Cessna Citation jet crashing, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said it authorised a F-16 jet to "travel at supersonic speeds and a sonic boom may have been heard by residents of the region".
In a statement, NORAD said: "The pilot was unresponsive and the Cessna subsequently crashed near the George Washington National Forest, Virginia.
"NORAD attempted to establish contact with the pilot until the aircraft crashed."
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The fighter jet, NORAD said, used flares "in an attempt to draw attention from the pilot" of the rogue plane.
Capitol Police confirmed the "Capitol Complex was briefly placed on an elevated alert until the airplane left the area."
Sources reported the Cessna was on autopilot when it crashed.
Unconfirmed reports said the jet ran out of fuel.
President Joe Biden was playing golf at Joint Base Andrews around the time the fighter jet took off. Anthony Guglielmi, spokesperson for the US Secret Service, said the incident had no impact on the president's movements Sunday. Biden was playing golf at the Maryland military base with his brother in the afternoon.
A White House official said: "The President was briefed on the incident. The sound resulting from the authorised DOD aircraft was faint at JBA."
A Cessna Citation crashed earlier today (Wikipedia)The sound of the sonic boom sparked panic in some areas as terrified residents rang 911 after the sound made windows rattle and alarms blare, reports NBC.
A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security said: "We are aware of reports from communities throughout the National Capital Region of a loud “boom” this afternoon. There is no threat at this time."
The city of Bowie, Maryland, added: "We have confirmed that the loud boom heard in Bowie was a sonic boom from a plane out of Joint Base Andrews."
The Mirror has approached the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defence for further comment.
Reports indicate police were forced to call the Federal Aviation Administration to find out more.
One Twitter user wrote: "Anyone else in Annapolis hear a big boom and then their house shake?"
"Something big just went boom in Manassas, VA," another person added.
One person in the American capital even said they though a truck had hit their house.
They said: "Felt in in the eastern DC suburbs. Thought a truck hit my house."
The FAA confirmed it will investigate the crash along with the National Transportation Safety Board.