**A passenger jet violating Washington, D.C. airspace led to US fighter jets scrambling and creating a sonic boom on Sunday afternoon. The Cessna Citation crashed into mountains in southwest Virginia shortly after, with some reports suggesting radio silence and a strange flight path.**
On Sunday, US fighter jets were scrambled as a Cessna Citation passenger jet entered restricted airspace around Washington, D.C., according to Reuters and other sources. The aircraft, capable of carrying seven to 12 passengers, crashed into mountainous terrain in southwest Virginia around 3 p.m. The jet had not been found by 5:20 p.m. A US official told Reuters that the fighter jets were not the cause of the crash.
Officials reported that the Cessna had been ignoring radio queries and was following an unusual flight path, as per Fox News Channel’s Lucas Tomlinson. Reports of a “loud boom” flooded Twitter around the time of the incident. Various authorities, including the Annapolis Office of Emergency Management and the DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management tweeted reassurances to the public that there was no current threat.
The Cessna had departed from the Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Tennessee, heading for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York, as reported by WHSV. Virginia State Police informed the outlet that search efforts by state and local authorities were in progress.
Fox 5 DC revealed that a Cessna 560 Citation, registered as N611VG, had taken off from an airport and had flown over New York, New Jersey, and Maryland in a somewhat elongated loop before descending into the mountains in Virginia. It remains unclear whether the two events are related.
This story is developing, and updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
**A small passenger jet entered restricted airspace near Washington, D.C. Sunday afternoon, leading to US fighter jets scrambling in response. The subsequent sonic boom was followed by the crashing of the private jet into southwest Virginia’s mountains, raising questions about the cause of the incident.**
