Sonic boom heard across D.C. area as fighter jet scrambles in response to flight of small plane through restricted airspace

Sonic boom heard across D.C. area as fighter jet scrambles in response to flight of small plane through restricted airspace

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — A wayward and unresponsive business plane that flew over the nation’s capital Sunday afternoon caused the military to scramble a fighter jet before the plane crashed in Virginia, officials said. The fighter jet caused a loud sonic boom that was heard across the capital region.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the Cessna Citation took off from Elizabethtown, Tenn., on Sunday and was headed for Long Island’s MacArthur Airport. Inexplicably, the plane turned around over New York’s Long Island and flew a straight path down over D.C. before it crashed over mountainous terrain near Montebello, Va., around 3:30 p.m.

It was not initially clear why the plane was nonresponsive, why it crashed or how many people were on board, but NBC News reported later Sunday that four people were on the plane and that the plane’s pilot had become incapacitated.

A U.S. official confirmed to the Associated Press that the military jet had scrambled to respond to the small plane, which later crashed. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the military operation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The plane that crashed was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc. A woman who identified herself as Barbara Rumpel, who is listed as the president of Encore Motors of Melbourne, said she had no comment Sunday when reached by a reporter from the Associated Press.

President Joe Biden was playing golf at Joint Base Andrews with his brother at around the time the fighter jet took off. Anthony Guglielmi, spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service, said the incident had no impact on the president’s movements Sunday.

The Pentagon, the D.C. Air National Guard and the North American Aerospace Defense Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

MarketWatch contributed.