Yahoo Sports Trump donor's family feared dead after F-16s scrambled to wayward jet
The family of a prominent Trump donor was on board a private jet that crashed on Sunday after straying into restricted airspace over Washington DC, prompting the air force to scramble F-16 fighter jets.
Four people were inside the Cessna aircraft at the time and no survivors were found at the crash site, Virginia state police said.
The fighter jets scrambled to intercept the plane caused a sonic boom to reverberate across the US capital.
Experts believe the light plane could have wandered off course accidentally. The pilot was unresponsive when contacted. One source claimed the plane appeared to be on autopilot.
The aircraft eventually crashed in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia around 3.30pm local time. However, the Pentagon denied the crash was caused by the high-speed pursuit. A Cessna Citation can carry between seven and 12 passengers.
The plane that crashed was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc, which is based in Florida.
We have confirmed that the loud boom heard in Bowie was a sonic boom from a plane out of Joint Base Andrews.
— Bowie Maryland (@CityofBowie) June 4, 2023
John Rumpel, the Florida businessman who runs the company, told The New York Times that his daughter, two-year-old granddaughter, her nanny and the pilot were aboard the plane.
Mr Rumpel, a pilot, told the newspaper he had not received much information from authorities but hoped his family didn’t suffer and suggested the plane could have lost pressure in the cabin.
He said they were returning to their home in East Hampton, on Long Island, after visiting his house in North Carolina.
“I don’t think they’ve found the wreckage yet,” Mr Rumpel told the newspaper. “It descended at 20,000 feet a minute, and nobody could survive a crash from that speed.”
The North American Aerospace Defense Command later said in a statement that the F-16 was authorised 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 from the pilot,” the statement said.
“Flares are employed with highest regard for safety of the intercepted aircraft and people on the ground. Flares burn out quickly and completely and there is no danger to the people on the ground when dispensed.”
Residents of the city and its suburbs reported hearing the thundering noise, which rattled windows and shook walls for miles and caused social media to light up with people asking what had happened.
Twitter user Erica Petacchi said she had just got out of her car when she heard the bang.
“It’s like nothing I’ve experienced before,” she tweeted. “I thought it was a large gas explosion nearby.”
Flight track of an aircraft, N611VG, that flew up to the New York area before doing a U-turn and flying directly over Washington D.C. At the end it descended rapidly. It is possible the sonic booms were aircraft scrambling (either DCANG who were in an exercise) or AC F-16 or both pic.twitter.com/5uAYLVxEvL
— Andrew Leyden (@PenguinSix) June 4, 2023
According to flight reports, the plane took off from Elizabethton, Tennessee flew to Long Island, New York and then turned south heading back towards Washington. The plane flew over the US Capitol building and the White House.
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 before crashing in the St Mary’s Wilderness.
President Joe Biden, who was at the White House and also played golf Sunday, was briefed on the incident, an official told journalists without specifying whether any emergency precautions were implemented due to the incident.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are now investigating the crash.
