WASHINGTON — A wayward and unresponsive business plane that flew over the nation’s capital Sunday afternoon caused the military to scramble a fighter jet before the plane crashed in Virginia, officials said. The fighter jet caused a loud sonic boom that was heard across the capital region.
It was not initially clear why the plane was nonresponsive, why it crashed or how many people were on board, but NBC News reported later Sunday that four people were on the plane and that the plane’s pilot had become incapacitated. The plane that crashed was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc. A woman who identified herself as Barbara Rumpel, who is listed as the president of Encore Motors of Melbourne, said she had no comment Sunday when reached by a reporter from the Associated Press.