Four dead in jet crash that triggered alarm in Washington

BET À DAY

The American authorities announced on Monday the death of the four occupants of a private jet whose lack of response, while flying on Sunday near Washington, had triggered the intervention of two F-16 fighters, which themselves generated a powerful sonic boom over the federal capital. 

“No survivors were found” by rescuers when they reached the crash site on foot in Virginia shortly before 8:00 p.m. (00:00 GMT Monday), police in this state in the eastern United States told AFP, who ended the search.

Two F-16 fighters had been mobilized due to the lack of response from this private jet “Cessna 560 Citation V over Washington and northern Virginia”, reported the American Aerospace Defense Command North (NORAD) in a statement.

The aircraft then crashed in a mountainous area in southwestern Virginia, about 270 km from Washington, according to aviation United States Civil Service (FAA).

The intervention of the hunters, who by crossing the sound barrier caused a thunderous noise which shook windows and walls for miles around, and in particular in the federal capital, and raised many questions on social networks.< /p>

The owner of the company to which the plane was registered, John Rumpel, told the Washington Post newspaper on Sunday that his entire family was on board, including his daughter and a grandchild and his nanny.

In response to messages of condolence posted on his Facebook page, his wife Barbara Rumpel wrote: “My family is no longer in this world, my daughter and my granddaughter -daughter.”

The jet took off from Elizabethton, Tennessee, bound for Long Island, New York, according to the FAA.

The website Flightradar24, however, said the aircraft turned back after flying over Long Island and headed south, passing over Washington and Virginia.

The US Capitol United States and ancillary buildings in Washington “were briefly placed on high alert until the aircraft left the area,” according to Capitol Police.