US authorities confirmed this morning that no survivors have been found at the site of the Cessna plane crash that violated Washington D.C. airspace yesterday, prompting military jets to attempt to intercept it before it crashed in Virginia. Virginia police noted that first responders arrived at the site Sunday evening, about four hours after government and local authorities began a land and aerial search for the downed aircraft.
American F-16 fighter jets caused a sonic boom by flying at supersonic speeds over the Washington D.C. area yesterday while attempting to reach the unresponsive plane. An official stated, "The F-16s did not shoot down the aircraft," emphasizing that "it is common for the Federal Aviation Administration to call in aircraft if someone is flying unsafely." The pilot of the civilian aircraft did not respond as the F-16 jets attempted to make contact.
A press release from the North American Aerospace Defense Command explained that "the F-16s used warning lights in an attempt to attract the pilot's attention." Sources familiar with the investigation indicated that "four people were on board the plane, which had exceeded its intended destination by about 315 miles before crashing."
According to CNN, the private aircraft that crashed was a Cessna Citation owned by Encore Motors of Melbourne, Inc. Its president, Barbara Rumble, was identified by her husband, John Rumble, in a statement to the Washington Post, as being on board along with family members, including their daughter, granddaughter (two years old), and nanny. He noted that "the family was returning home to East Hampton, New York, after a four-day trip to their home in North Carolina."
