A plane that left Elizabethton yesterday afternoon crashed in Virginia after fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the unresposive pilot.
According to the FAA, the Cessna Citation crashed into mountainous terrain near Montebello, Virginia, around 3:30 PM Sunday. The aircraft took off from Elizabethton Municipal Airport and was bound for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York. There were four people on board.
According to the flight tracking webpage FlightAware, the plane flew over Long Island before turning southeast, and flew directly over Washington DC. F-16 fighter aircraft were scrambled, creating a sonic boom, fired flares in an attempt to draw attention of the pilot who did not respond.
According to NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the pilot was unresponsive and the plane crashed after flying in a straigt line for nearly 300 miles.
The plane is registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne, Florida. The owner of the plane, John Rumpel, told the Washington Post that his daughter, grandchild and her nanny, and pilot all died in the crash.
The FAA and NTSB will investigate.
