4 dead from crash of small business plane near US capital

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Four people died when a small business airplane slammed into mountains outside of the US capital, federal authorities said Monday.

Four people were on board the Cessna Citation when it crashed in Virginia after military jets were scrambled to intercept it in restricted airspace around Washington, D.C., the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed. Local police said no survivors were found in the wreckage.

Identifying information was not immediately available for the deceased, but the New York Times said the plane was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne, a Florida-based company.

John Rumpel, who runs the company, told the Times that his daughter, Adina Azarian, his 2-year-old granddaughter, her nanny, and the pilot were on the plane when it crashed.

It is unclear what prompted the plane to veer off course after it departed from Tennessee’s Elizabethton Municipal Airport bound for Long Island, New York. But the plane apparently turned around mid-flight as it neared Long Island MacArthur Airport, flying straight back towards Washington.

Fighter jets from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland were scrambled to intercept the private plane, according to a statement by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

The fighter aircraft responded to the "unresponsive" plane over Washington, D.C. and northern Virginia and "were authorized to travel at supersonic speeds and a sonic boom may have been heard by residents of the region," NORAD said.

Reports of the boom briefly caused panic on Sunday.

The jets also used flares during the incident in order to draw attention from the pilot, said NORAD.

The Cessna entered a rapid spiral before it crashed into the mountainous area of St. Mary’s Wilderness.