UPDATE - Cessna plane crashes in US state of Virginia after reported sonic boom

ADDS NORAD STATEMENT, REVISES HEADLINE

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - A small plane crashed in a mountainous area in the state of Virginia on Sunday following reports of a sonic boom near the US capital, Washington, D.C.

The incident occurred after fighter jets from Joint Base Andrews were scrambled to intercept the private plane, according to a statement by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

The NORAD 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," said the statement.

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

The Cessna plane was intercepted around 3.20 p.m. Eastern Time (1920GMT).

"The pilot was unresponsive and the Cessna subsequently crashed near George Washington National Forest, Virginia," the statement added.

Earlier, Twitter users took to the social media platform to report hearing a huge explosion.

A "loud boom" was reported around Washington, D.C., but officials in an adjacent state said it was just a sonic boom from an authorized military flight.

The DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency said in a tweet that "there is no threat at this time.”

Meanwhile, emergency management officials in the city of Annapolis, Maryland, east of the capital, said the boom was caused by an authorized Defense Department flight.

"This flight caused a sonic boom. That is all the information available at this time," said the office on Twitter. ​​​​​​​

The Federal Aviation Administration said the Cessna plane "crashed into mountainous terrain in a sparsely populated area of southwest Virginia around 3 p.m. local time on June 4.”