1685946264 Alert over Washington for an uncontrolled plane that then crashes

Alert over Washington for an uncontrolled plane that then crashes with 4 people on board

AGI – F-16 fighters intervened to pursue a plane in the Washington area that eventually crashed in southwest Virginia. CNN reports, citing a US official.

It is unclear if the plane did so violate the restricted airspace near Washington DC, or if there was an emergency on board, but the officer added that the F-16s did not bring down the plane and that it was Federal Aviation Administration practice to call the jets, if someone flies unsafe.

The four people who were on board the plane are all dead. The jet was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne in Florida, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. According to reports from CNN, Barbara Rumpel is the company’s president. Her husband, John Rumpel, told her over the phone that Barbara was safe but family members were on the plane, including their daughter, two-year-old granddaughter and nanny. They returned to East Hampton, New York, after a four-day trip to the North Carolina residence.

On her Facebook profile, Barbara commented on a post by others asking if she was on the plane and sent her prayers, saying, “My family is gone, my daughter and my granddaughter.”

The F-16 fighters “were responding to an unresponsive Cessna 560 Citation V aircraft over Washington DC and northern Virginia,” the North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement. The two jets were dropped from Joint Base Andrews, a Pentagon official told AFP, and followed the plane then it crashed in a mountainous area in southwest Virginia, one of the states bordering Washington. When taking off, the fighters in the greater Washington area produced a clearly audible bang that rattled windows and walls for miles.





The air alert in Washington is out of control© Liu Kun/XINHUA/Xinhua via AFP

A Cessna Citation 560







President Joe Biden, who was in the White House Sunday playing golf, was informed of the accidentan official told reporters, without specifying whether emergency action was taken as a result of the incident.

Flight tracking website Flightradar24 said the plane changed course after passing over Long Island and headed south again over Washington and into Virginia.

The Virginia State Police said first responders had about reached the site four hours later that state and local authorities had launched a ground and air search for the downed plane. Police also said they have stopped searching and will release the names of the passengers on the plane as soon as information becomes available.