Officials say that no survivors were found at the crash site after an unresponsive pilot was flying a plane that crashed near the Washington, DC, area on Sunday.
As of Monday, police have stopped the search for the passengers but say they will identify them when the details are available.
Having been “authorized to travel at supersonic speeds,” the F-16 jets caused the sonic boom to be heard throughout DC, MD, and VA.
According to a US official, the F-16s did not shoot the aircraft down, however, they did say that it is customary for the Federal Aviation Administration to send out jets if someone is flying recklessly.
According to a press release from the Continental US North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, the civilian aircraft’s pilot was unresponsive when the F-16 fighter jets tried to make contact.
The report further stated that the F-16s employed flares “in an attempt to draw attention from the pilot.”
At around 3:20 p.m., the civilian Cessna 560 Citation V was intercepted by NORAD jets and eventually crashed close to Virginia’s George Washington National Forest.
“The pilot was unresponsive and the Cessna subsequently crashed near the George Washington National Forest, Virginia,” the release said. “NORAD attempted to establish contact with the pilot until the aircraft crashed.”
Sources close to the investigation say that the plane, which had four people on board, had flown 315 miles past its intended location when it crashed.
According to The National Transportation Safety Board, the agency has started “the process of documenting the scene and examining the aircraft.”
