Unresponsive small aircraft over Washington causes navy jet to scramble, later crashes in Virginia

WASHINGTON (AP) — A wayward and unresponsive enterprise aircraft that flew over the nation’s capital Sunday afternoon brought about the navy to scramble a fighter jet earlier than the aircraft crashed in Virginia, officers mentioned. The fighter jet brought about a loud sonic increase that was heard throughout the capital area.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the Cessna Quotation took off from Elizabethtown, Tennessee, on Sunday and was headed for Lengthy Island’s MacArthur Airport. Inexplicably, the aircraft circled over New York’s Lengthy Island and flew a straight path down over D.C. earlier than it crashed over mountainous terrain close to Montebello, Virginia, round 3:30 p.m.

It was not instantly clear why the aircraft was nonresponsive, why it crashed or how many individuals had been on board.

A U.S. official confirmed to The Related Press that the navy jet had scrambled to answer the small aircraft, which later crashed. The official was not approved to publicly focus on particulars of the navy operation and spoke on situation of anonymity.

The aircraft that crashed was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc. A lady who recognized herself as Barbara Rumpel, who’s listed because the president of Encore Motors of Melbourne, mentioned she had no remark Sunday when reached by a reporter for The Related Press.

President Joe Biden was taking part in golf at Joint Base Andrews across the time the fighter jet took off. Anthony Guglielmi, spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service, mentioned the incident had no influence on the president’s actions Sunday. Biden was taking part in golf on the Maryland navy base together with his brother within the afternoon.

The Pentagon, the D.C. Air Nationwide Guard and the North American Aerospace Protection Command didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon Sunday.

Related Press author Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.