2023-06-05 12:36:00
Residents of Washington DC and the surrounding area were given a huge scare on Sunday by a massive and mysterious explosion that only hours later was revealed to have been a ‘sonic boom’ caused by two F-16s that had come out to intercept a private jet outside control in the airspace of the capital.
He North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) reported that the fighters used flares to get the pilot’s attention without him responding.
The Cessna crashed at around 3:30 p.m. local time in a “hilly area” near Montebello, Virginia. In the place, according to the first emergency teams, it left a crater.
This is what is known regarding the accident.
Who are the victims of the accident?
according to the newspaper The New York Timesthe aircraft was registered to the company Encore Motors of Melbourne.
Its owner, John Rumpel, 75, told the newspaper that on board were her daughter, a 2-year-old granddaughter and her babysitterwho were returning home to East Hampton, New York following a family visit in North Carolina.
Rumpel also stated to The Washington Post who was in contact with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), stated that his “entire family” was on the plane and regretted that “no one might survive” given the rate of descent before crashing.
Virginia State Police told local channel WFXR on Sunday night that searches were underway, but the weather was bad.
“At the moment nothing has been located,” police said in a statement Sunday night.
What route was he taking and where did the plane crash?
The FAA said the plane was destined for MacArthur Airport on Long Islandthe area of New York state where East Hampton is located, and which had left the city of Elizabethtonin the state of Tennessee, neighbor of North Carolina.
A flight tracking website showed that the Cessna had flown to an altitude of 34,000 feet and reached Long Island, but it appears that it did not land, instead heading back to the Washington area.
Why fighter planes intercepted it
Washington DC Air National Guard F-16s intercepted the Cessna because “unresponsive” and had entered a restricted area over the nation’s capital.
A US official told > that the White House and the Capitol were placed on alert, although not on “red alert,” which would have warranted an evacuation of federal buildings.
The Continental US Region of NORAD said in a statement that in coordination with the FAA that “F-16 fighter jets responded to an unresponsive Cessna 560 Citation V aircraft over Washington DC and northern Virginia.”
A US official also quoted by > stated that the device was showing a strange flight pattern.
“The pilot was unresponsive and the Cessna subsequently crashed near the George Washington National Forest, Virginia,” the statement added.
NORAD said the fighters “they were authorized to travel at supersonic speeds” to catch up with the Cessna. The roar was heard in the capital when the fighters broke the sound barrier.
“During this event, the NORAD aircraft also used flares – which may have been visible to the public – in an attempt to get the pilot’s attention,” the NORAD statement added.
How was the place where the private jet crashed
The first emergency crews to arrive at the plane’s crash site, near Raphine, Virginia, told CNN they had found a crater.
As they told the channel, the plane was smashed to pieces, without finding anything much larger than an arm, which gives an idea of the speed at which it fell to the ground.
Workers confirmed that no survivors were found.
What hypothesis is raised in the accident investigation
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board opened an investigation into the causes of the accident.
A US official told > that it appeared that the Cessna pilot had “passed out”.
Some aviation experts point out that one explanation may lie in the fact that a cabin depressurization has caused hypoxia which might incapacitate the pilot.
Hypoxia “occurs when there is not enough oxygen in the cabin,” Steve Ganyard was quoted as saying by >.
“The pressure should keep enough air in the cabin to keep you alert and awake. In this case, it can happen insidiously, when you lose consciousness, you start to tingle, you get a feeling of euphoria, and very slowly, knocks everyone unconscious,” Ganyard explained.
*With information from the Efe Agency.
1685979780
#private #jet #control #sonic #boom #deadly #plane #crash #incident
