A private jet linked to a sonic boom heard across the Washington region crashed “under unknown circumstances” on Sunday in rural Virginia, killing the pilot and three passengers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Air traffic controllers could not make contact with the Cessna Citation as it crossed into the region’s heavily restricted airspace. Military F-16s were scrambled at supersonic speeds to intercept the jet, but the pilot of one of them saw the Cessna’s pilot slumped over, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of an ongoing investigation.

The Cessna departed from a small airport Sunday in Elizabethton, Tenn., at 1:14 p.m. and was bound for Long Island, according to flight tracking data. The two people familiar with the investigation into the crash said contact with the plane was lost about 15 minutes after its departure, as it was passing over Virginia for the first time.

Advertisement

Upon reaching New York, the plane turned around and headed toward Washington.

The Cessna was registered to Encore Motors, a Melbourne, Fla.-based company owned by John Rumpel. His daughter and 2½-year-old granddaughter were on the plane, and Rumpel said authorities told him that all four people onboard had died.

When the plane reached the Washington area around 3 p.m., it was flying at 34,000 feet. No other major city has airspace as restricted as that over the nation’s capital region. The Special Flight Rule Area (SFRA) is a 30-mile radius that requires that all aircraft provide a flight plan, broadcast a specific electronic code and maintain radio contact with air traffic controllers. The plane also crossed into D.C.’s Flight-Restricted Zone (FRZ), a 15-nautical-mile no-fly zone around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, restricting all nongovernmental air traffic to permission from the FAA. The no-fly zone was created after Sept. 11, 2001.

Advertisement

Six F-16s from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and two other facilities flew at supersonic speeds to intercept it, causing the boom heard across Virginia, Maryland and the District, according to social media reports.

Around 3:05 p.m., the plane crossed near two prohibited areas, which include airspace over the White House, the National Mall, and the vice president’s residence. In those areas, aircraft are not permitted to fly at an altitude below 18,000 feet. President Biden was golfing with his brother Jimmy at the course near Joint Base Andrews at the time.

The plane crashed about 3:30 p.m. in mountainous Augusta County, after the military jets and air traffic controllers were unable to make contact with the plane. Officials said the plane was not shot down.

Experts said publicly available flight data suggests the pilot had fallen unconscious — likely because of a loss of pressurization in the cabin — and that the plane had flown on autopilot until it ran out of fuel.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMGzrc2sp6iqpJbBqrvNaGlpamNkfXd7j25mnJ2jqLuiecKiq5qsmaS7brzLmqWeZZOnrrS0jKymp6GTYq%2Bwu8xo