US authorities today announced the deaths of four passengers on a private jet that flew close to Washington and because he was not responding to calls from the control tower, two F-16 fighters flew to intercept him, breaking the sound barrier over the federal capital.

Rescuers who arrived at the crash site shortly before 20:00 (local time, 03:00 today’s Greek time) “found no survivors,” Washington police told AFP as they ended their search.

Two F-16 fighters took off after the control tower received no response from this private Cessna 560 Citation V jet flying over Washington and northern Virginia, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement.

The plane then crashed in the highlands of Virginia, about 270 kilometers from Washington, according to the US Civil Aviation Administration (FAA).

There was a loud explosion in Washington

The stalkers caused a loud collapse of the sound barrier that rattled windows for miles, especially in the federal capital, and prompted many questions from residents on social media.

The owner of the company in whose name the plane was registered, John Rumble, told the Washington Post yesterday that his entire family, his daughter, as well as his grandson and nanny, were on board.

In response to messages of condolence posted on her Facebook page, his wife Barbara Rumble wrote: “My family is no longer in this world, my daughter and my granddaughter.”

The plane flew from Elizabethton, Tennessee to Long Island, New York, according to the FAA.

However, the flight-tracking website Flightradar24 reported that the plane turned around after flying over Long Island and headed south, flying over Washington and Virginia.

The US Capitol and its buildings in Washington were “briefly put on high alert until the plane left the area,” Capitol police said.

^{Source: APE-MEB, AFP.}