Plane crashes in Virginia, all four on board dead
Washington, June 5: The crash of a small plane carrying four people in Virginia on Monday left no survivors, according to US officials, a day after the unresponsive plane prompted the dispatch of fighter jets from Washington.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Cessna Citation crashed into mountainous terrain some 170 miles (275 kilometres) southwest of the city on Sunday afternoon.
F-16s had previously chased the aircraft at high speed, causing a sonic boom to reverberate across Washington and its suburbs, startling residents and rattling windows and walls for miles.
According to a statement issued to AFP by Virginia State Police, first responders arrived on foot four hours after the incident near the town of Staunton.
"No survivors were located," state police informed adding that the search efforts have been suspended.
An official claimed that President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident, but did not clarify whether any emergency precautions were taken.
According to the FAA, the civilian plane took off from Elizabethton, Tennessee, heading for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York. However, Flightradar24 reported that it turned around after flying over Long Island and returned south over Washington and into Virginia.
"There were four people on board. The FAA and NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) will investigate," and a preliminary accident report was expected later Monday," the FAA said in a statement.
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- With inputs from agencies
