2023-06-05 05:49:00
Archival image of a US Air Force F-16 fighter jet. Bild: dpa
According to the authorities, the crew did not respond to speeches. The light aircraft eventually crashed in the state of Virginia. Previously, a sonic boom had startled people in the area.
The conspicuous behavior of a light aircraft near the capital Washington has the US Air Force called into action and frightened many people in the region. On Sunday, US military F-16 fighter jets rose to intercept a Cessna Citation light aircraft. As the F-16s reached supersonic speeds, there was a loud bang that could be heard in Washington and the neighboring states of Virginia and Maryland. The small plane crashed a short time later in a sparsely populated area near Montebello in the state of Virginia, south of Washington. After the incident, many questions remained unanswered.
According to the North American air defense command Norad, the US military had tried to contact the pilot of the Cessna. But he was not responsive. Eventually the machine crashed. The US broadcaster CNN, citing an unnamed source, reported that the small plane was not shot down by the military. It is common for the US Federal Aviation Administration to request military assistance when an aircraft is found to be flying in a dangerous or unsafe manner. Airspace over Washington and the surrounding area is subject to various restrictions.
Far from the real goal
The aviation authority said the light aircraft took off from Elizabethton in the southern state of Tennessee and should have landed in Long Island in New York. The actual arrival point is around 500 kilometers as the crow flies from the crash site. According to CNN information, there were four people on board the machine. Why the pilot was unresponsive – possibly due to a medical emergency – is the subject of the investigation. Several US media reported late Sunday evening (local time) that no survivors were found at the crash site. There was initially no official information on this.
A loud bang startled many people in the region on Sunday afternoon. An explosive noise was heard. The authority, which coordinates emergencies in the city of Annapolis near Washington, informed on Twitter that it was a sonic boom. Such is heard when an airplane flies at supersonic speeds. According to the Norad air defense command, the fighter jets had been officially given permission to fly at supersonic speeds. Flares were also used “to divert the pilot’s attention”.
more on the subject
The crashed small plane was registered with a company in the state of Florida, CNN reported, citing flight control. The “Washington Post” quoted from a conversation with a man who, when asked on the phone, identified himself as the owner of the company: According to the newspaper, he made it clear that his family could have been on the plane – including his daughter and a grandchild aged two. But he still doesn’t know anything about the crash.
Citing flight data from the provider Flightradar 24, the Washington Post also reported that a plane that could be the crash machine first flew over the Long Island destination, but then turned back. Without changing course, it was said to have flown in the opposite direction until the data ended at the crash site.
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