Jet fighters chase small plane in Washington D.C. area before it crashes

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. officials said they had scrambled fighter jets to pursue a light aircraft that violated airspace in the Washington, D.C. area and then crashed in the mountains of southwestern Virginia.

Officials said the jet caused a sonic boom over the US capital as it rushed to catch up with a Cessna Citation carrying seven to 12 passengers.

The Federal Aviation Administration said a Cessna plane crashed in the mountains around the time a sonic boom was heard in southwestern Virginia.

A US official said a fighter jet was not the cause of the crash.

Officials said the Cessna was believed to be on autopilot and did not respond to authorities. It was not immediately clear why the pilot did not respond.

Although rare, accidents involving unresponsive pilots are not unprecedented. Golfer Payne Stewart died along with four others in 1999 after the plane he was traveling in flew thousands of miles when the pilot and passengers became unresponsive. The plane eventually crashed in South Dakota with no survivors.

The sonic boom took many residents of the Tokyo metropolitan area by surprise, reporting on Twitter that they heard a loud bang that shook the ground and walls. Several residents said they heard the noise as far away as northern Virginia and Maryland.

Reporting by David Lawder, Daniel Trotta, Ted Hesson, Rachael Levy, Diane Bartz. By Ross Colvin.Editing: Lisa Shoemaker

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