The private jet that crashed into a mountainous region of Virginia after becoming unresponsive while flying over the state capital echoes the 1999 death of golfer Payne Stewart whose Learjet flew thousands of miles before crashing into fields.
Stewart’s Learjet was en route from Orlando, Florida to Dallas, Texas on October 25, 1999, when it lost cabin pressure and flew aimlessly across the country with the pro golfer on board.
The Learjet 35 plane continued to fly for thousands of miles with no response from the pilot and passengers before finally crashing when it ran out of fuel in the fields of South Dakota, killing five people.
In the case of Stewart’s flight, the plane lost cabin pressure, causing the occupants to lose consciousness after being deprived of oxygen.
Investigators said the Learjet crashed after the plane failed to pressurize. Stewart (pictured) and four others died
Rescue workers walk by the scene of the crash that killed golfer Payne Stewart in October 1999
A large external piece of Payne Stewart’s Learjet 35 is taken away for examination after the crash
The journey began in Orlando, Florida, to Dallas, Texas, where Stewart and his companions had a business meeting.
The aircraft continued to climb past its assigned altitude, but then failed to make the westward turn to Dallas and instead continued to fly on a northwesterly course, nearly four hours and 1,400 miles over the southern and midwestern United States.
Air traffic controllers became concerned when they were unable to establish communication with the aircraft and F-16 fighter jets were deployed to intercept and investigate the situation.
After reaching the Learjet, the fighter pilots noticed that the cockpit windows were frosted, indicating a loss of cabin pressure.
The National Transportation Safety Board faces a wall of reporters during a press conference following the plane crash that killed golfer Payne Stewart in October 1999
A South Dakota state trooper points to the sky over the scene near Mina, South Dakota, where Stewart’s plane crashed after a failed pressurization during the flight to Dallas, Texas
Despite attempts to make visual contact with or communicate with the residents, there was no response.
The Learjet continued on its pre-programmed flight plan, suggesting that the crew and passengers had been rendered unconscious by lack of oxygen.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) conducted an investigation to determine the cause of the accident and concluded that the probable cause of the accident was the flight crew’s incapacitation due to hypoxia, a lack of oxygen.
A subsequent investigation revealed that a small hole in the aircraft’s pressurization system caused a gradual loss of cabin pressure, causing the crew and passengers to succumb to hypoxia.
A Florida woman and NRA director posted a heartbreaking tribute to her daughter and granddaughter after it was confirmed no one survived when an unresponsive corporate jet flew over the nation’s capital and crashed Sunday afternoon
The Cessna Citation departed from Elizabethtown, Tennessee, bound for Long Island’s MacArthur Airport, but turned around after reaching the New York area
On returning to the Virginia area, the plane flew extremely close to the capital, even though it was at a high altitude
By comparison, in Sunday’s crash, the Federal Aviation Administration says the Cessna Citation took off from Elizabethtown, Tennessee, and was bound for Long Island’s MacArthur Airport.
Inexplicably, the plane appeared to reach the New York area, then made a nearly 180-degree turn over Long Island and flew a straight path back down over Washington, D.C. before crashing into mountainous terrain near Montebello, Virginia, around 3:30 p.m.
It was not immediately clear why the plane failed to respond or why it crashed.
The plane flew directly over the country’s capital, although it was technically flying over one of the country’s most restricted airspaces.
As with the Payne Stewart crash, a military plane was scrambled to respond to the small plane, which failed to respond to radio transmissions.
The Rumpels are large-scale donors to conservative political candidates, including former President Donald Trump, who have given a total of $250,000 to a PAC supporting Trump’s 2020 campaign
Flight tracking sites showed the jet made a rapid spiral descent, descending at more than 30,000 feet per minute at one point before crashing into the St. Mary’s Wilderness.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command later said in a statement that the F-16 was authorized to travel at supersonic speeds, causing a sonic boom that was heard in Washington and parts of Virginia and Maryland.
The US military attempted to contact the pilot, who did not respond as the Cessna aircraft appeared to be flying on autopilot.
“During this event, the NORAD aircraft also used flares — which may have been visible to the public — in an attempt to attract the pilot’s attention,” the statement said.
Flares are used with the utmost respect for the safety of intercepted aircraft and people on the ground. Flares burn out quickly and completely and there is no danger to people on the ground when they are released.’
Virginia State Police said officers were notified of the possible crash shortly before 4 p.m. and rescuers reached the crash site on foot about four hours later. No survivors have been found, police said.
Rumpel told the New York Times of his relatives’ likely last moments, saying “they would all have just gone to sleep and never woke up again.”
State police confirmed that the plane’s wreckage was found in the Staunton/Blue Ridge Parkway area, in a rural part of the Shenandoah Valley, and no survivors have been found.
“Sunday (June 4, 2023) at 3:50 p.m. the Virginia State Police was notified of a possible plane crash in the Staunton/Blue Ridge Parkway area,” a Virginia State Police spokesman said.
Searches by the Virginia State Police, Augusta County Sheriff’s Office and Augusta County Fire-Rescue immediately began over the ground and air throughout the region.
Shortly before Sunday 8 p.m. (June 4, 2023), emergency personnel were able to reach the crash site on foot.
“State police have suspended their search efforts. No survivors have been found.’
The crashed plane was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc, based in Florida. A Cessna Citation can carry seven to twelve passengers.
Authorities secure the entrance to Mine Bank Trail, an access point to the rescue operation along the Blue Ridge Parkway where a Cessna Citation crashed over mountainous terrain near Montebello, Virginia
Search and rescue teams leave the command post in St. Mary’s Wilderness en route to the Blue Ridge Parkway
A photo Barbara Rumpel had previously shared online of her young granddaughter
The crashed plane was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc, based in Florida. A Cessna Citation can carry seven to twelve passengers
John Rumpel, who runs the company, said The New York Times that his daughter, two-year-old granddaughter, her nanny and the pilot were on board the plane.
They returned to their home in East Hampton, on Long Island, after visiting his home in North Carolina, he said.
Rumpel, a pilot, told the paper he didn’t have much information from authorities, but hoped his family wouldn’t suffer and suggested the plane may have run out of pressure.
“I don’t think they’ve found the wreck yet,” Rumpel told the newspaper. “It was descending at 20,000 feet per minute, and no one could survive a crash of that speed.”