Intercepting USAF F-16s Occasion Sonic Boom

National Rifle Association (NRA) executive and conservative donor Barbara Rumpel confirmed late Sunday, 04 June 2023, that her daughter, granddaughter, and a nanny had lost their lives earlier in the day when the Cessna 560 Citation V on which they were traveling from Tennessee’s Elizabethton Municipal Airport (0A9) to MacArthur Airport (ISP) on New York’s Long Island went down in mountainous terrain in the vicinity of Montebello Virginia.

The aircraft’s pilot also perished.

The accident aircraft departed 0A9 without incident, proceeded to and arrived over Long Island, then reversed course, traveling in a southwesterly direction that took it through restricted airspace overlying Washington D.C. Attempts by air traffic control to communicate with the aircraft were unsuccessful.

Faced with an unresponsive aircraft proceeding in the direction of the U.S. capital city, NORAD scrambled a total of six USAF F-16 fighters from the Air National Guard base on New Jersey’s Atlantic City International Airport (ACY) and Maryland’s Andrews Air Force Base. Two of the fighters were tasked specifically with intercepting the inbound Citation V.

At approximately 15:20 EDT, the two F-16s converged upon the Cessna, deploying flares for purpose of securing the attention of the wayward aircraft’s pilot. A short time later, the F-16’s pilots observed the Citation V’s pilot to be unconscious.

In a post-incident statement, NORAD set forth: “During this event, the NORAD aircraft also used flares—which may have been visible to the public—in an attempt to draw attention from the pilot. Flares are employed with highest regard for safety of the intercepted aircraft and people on the ground. Flares burn out quickly and completely and there is no danger to the people on the ground when dispensed.”

In a separate statement, NORAD reported the scrambled F-16s had been authorized to travel at supersonic speeds, thereby occasioning a sonic boom heard across the D.C. metroplex.

A short time after being intercepted, the Citation V entered a spiraling descent, dropping, at one point, at a rate exceeding thirty-thousand-feet-per-minute.

Virginia State Police were notified at approximately 15:50 EDT of a possible aircraft accident in the Commonwealth’s Staunton/Blue Ridge Parkway region.

Hours later, first-responders traveling on foot arrived at the accident site in a rural area of the Shenandoah Valley. Rescue efforts were suspended shortly before 20:00 EDT after a thorough search of the area turned up no survivors.

Speaking to the subject of the downed Citation V, an NTSB spokesperson stated: “Once on scene, investigators will begin the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft. The preliminary report, which includes factual information learned to date, is expected to publish three weeks after the accident.”

FMI: www.ntsb.gov