Four people were on board the aircraft and died in the incident, which occurred yesterday, according to the Virginia State Police to the local channel.
According to a statement from United States Aerospace Defense Command (Norad)the aircraft was intercepted around 3:20 p.m. (one more hour in Argentina) by military fighters that did not know what their intentions might be. But the pilot of the plane did not respond to his inquiries and in the middle of the chase he lost control and crashed near the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest285 kilometers from the capital.
Police said rescuers had reached the crash site of the plane, andn a rural area of the Shenandoah Valley and that no survivors were found.
As indicated, the plane took off yesterday from Elizabethton, Tennesseeto go to the airport MacArthur of Long Island.
Inexplicably, he turned around Long Island in New York and flew straight over Washington D.C. before crashing into mountainous terrain near Montebello, Va.
The pilot of the civilian plane did not react when the F-16 fighters tried to make contact, according to a news release from the North American Aerospace Defense Command Continental Region.
A US official told CNN news that the F-16 they did not shoot down the plane and that it is common for the Federal Aviation Administration call the planes if someone flies unsafely.
Investigate whether the aircraft violated restricted airspace
At the moment, it is not clear if the aircraft violated the restricted airspace of Washington D.C.or if there was an emergency on board, a US official told CNN television.
He NoradIn addition, it indicated that its fighters were authorized to travel at supersonic speedsso residents in the region heard a loud roar.
In an attempt to get the pilot’s attention, the soldiers also resorted to the use of flares.
The plane that crashed was registered to Florida-based Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc.
John Rumpel, who runs the companytold The New York Times that her daughter, her 2-year-old granddaughter, her nanny and the pilot were aboard the plane and were returning home to East Hampton, Long Island, after visiting her home in North Carolinahe told US media.
The plane “it descended at 20,000 feet per minute, no one could survive a crash at that speed”Rumpel told reporters, suggesting that the plane could have lost pressurization.
the memory of 1999
The episode brought back memories of 1999 crash of a Learjet that lost cabin pressure and flew aimlessly across the country with professional golfer Payne Stewart on board. The plane crashed in a South Dakota meadow, killing six people.
President Joe Biden was golfing with his brother at Joint Base Andrews. Anthony Guglielmi, spokesman for United States Secret Servicesaid the incident had no impact on the president’s movements on Sunday.
An official of the White House said that the president had been informed about the accident and that the sound of the plane was heard faintly in the Joint Base Andrews.
Source: Ambito
