News/Commentary

Sonic boom over DC; fighter jets scramble, passenger plane crashes after entering restricted airspace

June 5, 2023 | | Print Article

Washington, D.C.-area residents were shaken Sunday by a sonic boom heard and felt in connection with a passenger plane that ultimately crashed in Virginia with four people on board.

The incident occurred when a private plane was said to be unresponsive to radio transmissions after it had entered restricted airspace in the area of the capital city and northern Virginia. Subsequently, a statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) confirmed two F-16s were scrambled from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to intercept.

Many took to social media after capturing the moment the sonic boom happened on security cameras and one couple reportedly caught their own reactions while filming a video.

As other reports of shaking furniture reminiscent of an earthquake came in, the Annapolis Office of Emergency Management informed the public that, “The loud boom that was heard across the DMV area was caused by an authorized DOD flight. This flight caused a sonic boom. That is all the information available at this time.”

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Their own statement detailed that, “In coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, NORAD F-16 fighter aircraft responded to an unresponsive Cessna 560 Citation V aircraft over Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia on June 4, 2023.”

After explaining that the jets were authorized to use supersonic speeds, the release indicated, “During this event, the NORAD aircraft also used flares — which may have been visible to the public — in an attempt to draw attention from the pilot.”

However, when the civilian aircraft was intercepted around 3:20 p.m. “The pilot was unresponsive and the Cessna subsequently crashed near the George Washington National Forest, Virginia.”

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Speaking with ABC News, a U.S. official indicated that the pilot of the Cessna appeared to have lost consciousness at the controls.

The New York Times reached out to John Rumpel, 75, who runs Encore Motors of Melbourne, the company that owns the plane, and he confirmed that his daughter, two-year-old granddaughter, her nanny and the pilot were the people on board the Cessna when it crashed.

Rumpel, himself a pilot, suggested that if the plane lost pressurization, “they all just would have gone to sleep and never woke up,” as he hoped they had not suffered. His family members had just completed a four-day visit to his home in North Carolina when they were returning to New York.

The FAA indicated that the flight had departed Elizabethton, Tennessee en route to Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, New York. Flight tracking showed it had been traveling over Long Island but had turned back toward Virginia without landing.

Rumpel’s wife, Barbara, a member of the NRA’s Women’s Leadership Council, posted a picture of her with her daughter and granddaughter to Facebook after learning of the crash.

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While investigations remain underway, Virginia State Police said that no survivors had been located.

Kevin Haggerty
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