Rescuers search for a crashed plane in Virginia after being chased by fighter jets. Author: Pennsylvania
WASHINGTON, DC, June 5 — Authorities have announced that no survivors have been found after a small plane overflying Washington, DC, crashed Sunday in a mountainous area of southwest Virginia, provoked by fighter jets, The Hill reports.
Virginia State Police were notified of the crash around 3:50 p.m., the newspaper from the US capital added, citing an official statement that rescuers remained at the crash site for some time on Sunday. four hours after the search was conducted on foot and by air.
Authorities added that no survivors had been found, saying they would reveal the identities of the plane’s occupants as soon as information became available. So far, no explanation has been given as to what caused the plane to crash.
The “accident” came after F-16 fighters pursued an unresponsive Cessna 560 Citation V jet as it flew over Washington, the capital and northern Virginia on Sunday afternoon.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) statement said the plane took off from Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Elizabethton, Tennessee, bound for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York City.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement that the fighter jets were allowed to travel at supersonic speeds so residents could hear the sonic boom.
The statement also added that the NORAD aircraft used flares to get the attention of the aircraft’s pilot, noting that the use of flares “posed no danger” to people on the ground.
The pilot did not respond and the Cessna subsequently crashed near the George Washington National Forest, Virginia. NORAD tried to contact the pilot until the plane crashed.
The aircraft belonged to Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc., a Florida company. John Rumpel, who runs the company, told The New York Times that the passengers included his daughter, a 2-year-old granddaughter, her nanny and the pilot.
“It was falling at 20,000 feet per minute and no one could have survived the crash at that speed,” he said.
The incident will be investigated by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Source: Juventud Rebelde