Sonic boom as US fighter jets intercept plane that later crashed

The F-16 jets caused a loud sonic boom that was heard around the region, prompting concern from some residents.

They were deployed after the plane entered some of the most heavily restricted airspace in the country and failed to respond to the authorities.

It then crashed in a rural area of Virginia after a rapid descent.

Police and rescuers reached the wreckage near the George Washington National Forest by foot hours later and said no survivors had been found. Four people were reportedly on board.

It is not clear why the pilot was unresponsive or what caused the Cessna Citation small aircraft to come down. Military officials speaking on condition on anonymity said it was not shot down and the fighter jets did not cause the crash.

US aviation officials said the plane took off from Elizabethton, Tennessee at 13:14 local time on Sunday and was heading to Long Island in New York.

But flight tracking data shows the pilot turned around after reaching Long Island and then flew south over Washington. The flight data ends at around 15:30 near Montebello in Virginia and shows the aircraft descended at great speed.

The private plane was reportedly registered to the Florida-based company Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc. John Rumpel, 75, who owns the business told the New York times that his daughter, two-year-old granddaughter and her nanny were on the plane along with the pilot.

He said they had been returning to New York from his North Carolina home. "It descended at 20,000ft a minute, and nobody could survive a crash from that speed," Mr Rumpel, who is also a pilot, said, adding that he hoped those on board had not suffered.

President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident at the time, officials said. He was playing golf at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland where the fighter jets departed from.

-bbc