The US launched F-16 fighter planes into hypersonic pursuit of a light aircraft with an unresponsive pilot that violated airspace over Washington, D.C. and crashed into Virginia mountains.
Officials reported the jet fighters created a sonic boom over the United States capital as they pursued the rogue Cessna Citation, causing locals to be concerned.
According to a source acquainted with the situation, four individuals were on board the Cessna. A Cessna Citation can seat seven to twelve passengers.
The Virginia State Police said that first responders arrived at the crash site after several hours but discovered no one alive.
The U.S. military attempted to contact the pilot, who was unresponsive, until the Cessna crashed near the George Washington National Forest in Virginia, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement.
The statement added that NORAD planes also fired flares in an effort to draw the pilot’s attention.
“The NORAD aircraft were authorised to travel at supersonic speeds and a sonic boom may have been heard by residents of the region.”
The Cessna appeared to be flying on autopilot, another source familiar the matter said.
A U.S. official said the fighters did not cause the crash.
The Cessna took off from Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and was bound for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York, about 50 miles (80 km) east of Manhattan, the FAA said in a statement, adding that it and the National Transportation Safety Board would investigate.
According to Flight Aware, the plane appeared to reach the New York area, then made nearly a 180-degree turn.
Incidents involving unresponsive pilots are not unprecedented.
Similarly, a small U.S. private plane with an unresponsive pilot crashed off the east coast of Jamaica in 2014 after veering far off course and triggering a U.S. security alert including a fighter jet escort.
