The massive explosion that rocked the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area on Sunday was caused by a fighter jet scrambled to intercept an unresponsive plane, officials said.
Two F-16 fighter jets scrambled from a National Guard base near Atlantic City, New Jersey, and two others merged with Andrews after an unlicensed Cessna 560 Citation V flew through Washington, D.C. and northern Virginia airspace. It took off from the base, Fox News reported. report. To catch up with the unresponsive plane, pilots were allowed to fly at supersonic speeds, creating a sonic boom that could be heard by residents across the region, a NORAD press release said. said.
Around 3:20 pm on Sunday, pilots intercepted the Cessna and found the pilot “unresponsive.” The Cessna later crashed near the George Washington National Forest in northern Virginia, the release said. (Related: Secret Service Blows Command Chain After 9/11 Without Bush and Cheney Knowing, New Declassified Documents Revealed)
NORAD responds to unresponsive aircraft over Tokyo metropolitan area pic.twitter.com/EX7r1B1Uum
— 1st AF/American AOC (@1stAF) June 4, 2023
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) clearly The Cessna plane took off from Elizabethton, Tennessee Municipal Airport, en route to Long Island MacArthur Airport, before making a nearly 180-degree turn that appears to have violated DC restricted airspace, Reuters reports. report. Four people were found on board the plane after it crashed near Montebello, Virginia, according to Fox News.
The Cessna is registered with Encore Motors in Melbourne, Florida and owned by Said The Washington Post reported that his “whole family” was on the plane, including his daughter, grandson and nanny. “I know nothing about the accident,” Encore Motors owner John Rumpel told The Washington Post. “We are currently in discussions with the FAA…the line must be clear.”
Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, that the U.S. military made several attempts to contact the pilot before the plane crashed while it was on autopilot. The FAA plans to investigate the incident and the cause of the crash, the paper said.
