A private jet linked to a sonic boom heard across the Washington region crashed “under unknown circumstances” on Sunday in rural Virginia, killing the pilot and three passengers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Mapping the Cessna Citation’s flight path over D.C. and sonic boom from F-16s
Updated June 6, 2023 at 11:12 a.m. EDT|Published June 5, 2023 at 2:23 p.m. EDT
The Cessna departed from a small airport Sunday in Elizabethton, Tenn., at 1:14 p.m. and was bound for Long Island, according to flight tracking data. The two people familiar with the investigation into the crash said contact with the plane was lost about 15 minutes after its departure, as it was passing over Virginia for the first time.
Upon reaching New York, the plane turned around and headed toward Washington.
49 FEET
CESSNA 560 CITATION V
Length: 49 feet
Wingspan: 52 feet
Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney Canada
JT15D-5A engines
Passengers: As many as 8
Source: Aviation Insider
WILLIAM NEFF/THE WASHINGTON POST
49 FEET
CESSNA 560 CITATION V
Length: 49 feet
Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney
Canada JT15D-5A engines
Wingspan: 52 feet
Passengers: As many as 8
Source: Aviation Insider
WILLIAM NEFF/THE WASHINGTON POST
49 FEET
CESSNA 560 CITATION V
Length: 49 feet
Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-5A engines
Wingspan: 52 feet 2 in.
Passengers: As many as 8
Source: Aviation Insider
WILLIAM NEFF/THE WASHINGTON POST
49 FEET
CESSNA 560 CITATION V
Length: 49 feet
Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-5A engines
Wingspan: 52 feet 2 in.
Passengers: As many as 8
Source: Aviation Insider
WILLIAM NEFF/THE WASHINGTON POST
The Cessna was registered to Encore Motors, a Melbourne, Fla.-based company owned by John Rumpel. His daughter and 2½-year-old granddaughter were on the plane, and Rumpel said authorities told him that all four people onboard had died.
When the plane reached the Washington area around 3 p.m., it was flying at 34,000 feet. No other major city has airspace as restricted as that over the nation’s capital region. The Special Flight Rule Area (SFRA) is a 30-mile radius that requires that all aircraft provide a flight plan, broadcast a specific electronic code and maintain radio contact with air traffic controllers. The plane also crossed into D.C.’s Flight-Restricted Zone (FRZ), a 15-nautical-mile no-fly zone around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, restricting all nongovernmental air traffic to permission from the FAA. The no-fly zone was created after Sept. 11, 2001.
Six F-16s from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and two other facilities flew at supersonic speeds to intercept it, causing the boom heard across Virginia, Maryland and the District, according to social media reports.
What is a sonic boom?
Below the speed
of sound
When an object emits a sound it creates sound waves.
When the object is still, the crest of the wave expands concentrically.
When the object moves, the sound waves compress, but they don’t touch each other.
Above the speed
of sound
But when the object travels faster than the speed of sound, each wave travels ahead of the next one.
As the
waves
extremely
compress,
they create a
sonic boom.
People on the ground hear a boom when the shock wave crosses their location, after the plane has passed.
What is a sonic boom?
Below the speed of sound
When an object emits a sound it creates sound waves. When the object is still, the crest of the wave expands concentrically.
When the object moves, the sound waves compress, but they don’t touch each other.
Above the speed of sound
But when the object travels faster than the speed of sound, each wave travels ahead of the next one.
As the
waves
extremely
compress,
they create a
sonic boom.
People on the ground hear a boom when the shock wave crosses their location, after the plane has passed.
What is a sonic boom?
Below the speed of sound
Above the speed of sound
When an object emits a sound it creates sound waves. When the object is still, the crest of the wave expands concentrically.
When the object moves, the sound waves compress, but they don’t touch each other.
But when the object travels faster than the speed of sound, each wave travels ahead of the next one.
As the
waves
extremely
compress,
they create a
sonic boom.
People on the ground hear a boom when the shock wave crosses their location, after the plane has passed.
Around 3:05 p.m., the plane crossed near two prohibited areas, which include airspace over the White House, the National Mall, and the vice president’s residence. In those areas, aircraft are not permitted to fly at an altitude below 18,000 feet. President Biden was golfing with his brother Jimmy at the course near Joint Base Andrews at the time.
The plane crashed about 3:30 p.m. in mountainous Augusta County, after the military jets and air traffic controllers were unable to make contact with the plane. Officials said the plane was not shot down.
Experts said publicly available flight data suggests the pilot had fallen unconscious — likely because of a loss of pressurization in the cabin — and that the plane had flown on autopilot until it ran out of fuel.
