ALERT Loud "boom" DC area - UPDATE - Was unresponsive private plane that crashed in Virginia
- Thread starter AlfaMan
- Start date
Masterphreak
Senior Member
Jun 5, 2023
A quiet Sunday afternoon around Washington DC was interrupted by a loud boom. The first explanation offered by an “official” sources that the noise was a sonic boom caused by a military jet doing an exercise. Then word emerged of the crash of a civilian airplane in the mountains near Staunton, Virginia. Was it related to the sonic boom? Was the government lying to us?
6:16
The REAL Truth About the Sonic Boom Over DC
View: https://youtu.be/Wv8YTzRakjQ
A quiet Sunday afternoon around Washington DC was interrupted by a loud boom. The first explanation offered by an “official” sources that the noise was a sonic boom caused by a military jet doing an exercise. Then word emerged of the crash of a civilian airplane in the mountains near Staunton, Virginia. Was it related to the sonic boom? Was the government lying to us?
6:16
The REAL Truth About the Sonic Boom Over DC
WildDaisy
God has a plan, Trust it!
Is the comm not something readily identifiable on that plane that a passenger would be able to talk on it? Maybe they need a CB type radio or something that might be more obvious to a non pilot to be able to communicate if something goes wrong.
Even a fly by should have let the fighter jets know that there were two woman, a baby and a slumped over pilot on board and not to shoot. Did they not look in the windows?
Even a fly by should have let the fighter jets know that there were two woman, a baby and a slumped over pilot on board and not to shoot. Did they not look in the windows?
bw
Fringe Ranger
If the cockpit door was closed, the pax may have been unaware of any problem until the plane started gyrating.
Countrymouse
Country exile in the city
they DIDN'T shoot, afaik............it crashed when it ran out of fuel..........
AlfaMan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Did yall see pics or video of the plane's crash site? The burned area may have been 250 feet around.
That plane was a dirt dart. Straight into the ground at a very high rate of speed and all fuel onboard exhausted.
The folks onboard were probably dead shortly after hitting cruising altitude on the NY bound leg of the flight. Autopilot did the rest.
Sad.
But I'm still not entirely convinced this plane crash was the reason for the scramble and all
That plane was a dirt dart. Straight into the ground at a very high rate of speed and all fuel onboard exhausted.
The folks onboard were probably dead shortly after hitting cruising altitude on the NY bound leg of the flight. Autopilot did the rest.
Sad.
But I'm still not entirely convinced this plane crash was the reason for the scramble and all
I think they did.
Profit of Doom
Dismember
They also knew there was nothing they could do about it but escort and report.
Countrymouse
Country exile in the city
that's so sad. I was thinking about that today. Even if it 'were' possible for a pilot of one plane to somehow get into the other one (thinking how planes 'connect' to refuel)--which I know it's NOT, given the speeds they're going--this isn't stunt 'wing-walking' on a Wright-brothers style bi-plane---the pilot would have to have his own oxygen tank to breathe and his weight might disturb the equilibrium of the other plane (ya'll can tell I know nothing about planes--don't claim to)--but even if he 'could' walk the wings and get in there he probably couldn't save them.
Am I right in thinking the four in the plane were already dead--long before it hit the ground?
Has any crew of any plane that depressurized ever lived through it?
A bit more on this one:
F-16 Pilot Reveals What He Saw Through Window of Doomed Plane Carrying GOP Donor's Family: Report
A new report says an F-16 pilot saw a troubling sight when he made visual contact with a plane that crashed in Virginia on Sunday.
www.westernjournal.com
F-16 Pilot Reveals What He Saw Through Window of Doomed Plane Carrying GOP Donor's Family: Report
F-16 Pilot Reveals What He Saw Through Window of Doomed Plane Carrying GOP Donor's Family: Report
A new report says an F-16 pilot saw a troubling sight when he made visual contact with a plane that crashed in Virginia on Sunday.
www.westernjournal.com
By Jack Davis June 6, 2023 at 6:59am
A new report indicates that when the pilot of an F-16 scrambled to potentially shoot down a private plane that flew over restricted airspace in Washington made visual contact with the plane, he saw the final act of a tragedy taking place.
On Sunday, four people died when the Cessna Citation they were flying crashed in a wooded area of Virginia.
On Monday, The Washington Post — citing sources it did not name — reported an F-16 pilot told investigators he saw the Cessna pilot sitting in the left seat of the plane while being slumped toward the plane’s right side. The F-16s came in contact with the plane about 12 minutes before it crashed.
Visual contact came after multiple unsuccessful attempts to reach the plane by radio, the Post reported. Because the plane violated restrictions, six F-16s were scrambled, with two sent to approach the plane.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the F-16 pilots sent aloft “did exactly what they were supposed to do — try to get on the radio, communicate to the pilot. That wasn’t working. Made themselves visible. That didn’t work. And tragically, it ended, obviously, in the crash and the death of all on board.”
The Post said data indicate a loss of pressurization could have led the pilot to become unconscious.
The Federal Aviation Administration said all four people aboard died “under unknown circumstances.”
The plane was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne, Florida. Company owner John Rumpel said his daughter, Adina Azarian; his granddaughter, Aria; and their nanny were on board. The pilot was Jeff Hefner.
Rumpel was a major GOP donor who supported former President Donald Trump among other prominent Republicans.
Should action have been taken to rescue the plane long before it crashed?
Yes No
The plane took off from Elizabethton, Tennessee, and had been heading to Long Island, New York. Communication with the plane was lost soon after takeoff, according to Reuters.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the plane took off at 1:13 p.m., and by 1:28 p.m. it was no longer in communication with air traffic controllers.
The Post report said the plane was at 31,000 feet when communication was lost.
Jeff Guzzetti, a former FAA and NTSB investigator, said flight-tracking data indicate whatever went wrong happened en route to Long Island. He said the pilot was not in control when it reached Long Island MacArthur Airport and then turned back the way it had come.
“Whatever happened, happened at altitude, which is a critical location to lose pressurization. The higher up in altitude you are, the less time you have to get on oxygen,” Guzzetti said.
The plane was at 34,000 feet when it flew past its destination and turned south, maintaining that altitude until its final spiral and crash.
Guzzetti said data showed the plane’s right engine was out of fuel when the crash took place.
Investigator Adam Gerhardt said the wreckage is “highly fragmented.”
Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, said the plane’s route remains puzzling.
“It’s very unclear why it made this maneuver so close to its intended destination,” Shahidi said, according to the Post. “The aircraft, especially the Cessna airplane, it has to be directed by the pilot to take a certain flight path and altitude.”
William Waldock, a professor of safety science who teaches aircraft accident investigation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, said cabin pressurization was “the most likely suspect,” according to ABC News.
“It went up to 34,000 feet and basically stayed there — all the way up, all the way back. The turn [away from New York and back south] is a little perplexing. But it kind of depends on what kind of autopilot system the aircraft had,” Waldock said.
Hypoxia, the medical term for the brain being deprived of oxygen, “happens slowly,” according to Anthony Brickhouse, a former member of the NTSB who is now an associate professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and director of its Aerospace Forensic Lab in Daytona Beach, Florida.
“It’s almost like you’re getting groggy, and you just can’t, you can’t piece things together,” he said. “And eventually you lose consciousness.”
Macgyver
Has No Life - Lives on TB
So the headsets allow you to chatter with each other. There is a transmit button on the yoke to actually talk over the radio.
Then you need to assume the radio is set to a frequency someone can hear.
Someone else here could probably explain the frequency's for planes better than me.
I know you switch around based on where you are in relation to different traffic control areas. Then to different ones for specific airport towers.
dawgofwar10
Veteran Member
Hypoxia will do strange things to your rationality, got to sit in one of those pressurization chambers when going thru training. You had to play cards with your partner, or clap each others hands whichever roll they gave. I was the last one to hang on, prior years of hard partying had prepared me.
Abe Froman
Senior Member
Single Pilot Ops.
Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s smart.
Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s smart.
BUBBAHOTEPT
Veteran Member
Just Sayin, interesting situation about who was on the plane. Funny how coincidence seems to only go in one direction.… 
Sends some kind of message, but for the life of me I just can’t figure it out. Oh well, time for a nap..
Sends some kind of message, but for the life of me I just can’t figure it out. Oh well, time for a nap..
Capt. Eddie
Veteran Member
Always, it's the default reaction, even if there's no reason to.
You need a single pilot waiver from FAA for a V.
bw
Fringe Ranger
My ex was a pathological liar. She would tell a lie just for the entertainment value, to see how many stories she could keep in the air.
Think about this, especially with a Post 9/11 mindset.
How does a high performance twin engine jet aircraft travel in and out of some of the heaviest airspace on the planet without being contacted by air traffic control. When did ATC finally discern something was wrong and when did the FAA finally contact the Air Force and how long did it take for the Air Force to finally launch armed aircraft?
BTW - From what I have read so far, the Air Force did -not- reach the stricken aircraft until -after- it had passed over DC.
Feeling better now?
bw
Fringe Ranger
It was flying its registered and preplanned path. No need to contact it until it failed to land as planned.
Masterphreak
Senior Member
No, they are supposed to be in contact with the ARTCC controllers(also called center controllers) throughout the flight. This aircraft started the flight in Atlanta Center then on to Washington Center and then to New York Center and back into Washington Centers airspace. At the bare minimum, they will be given handoff instructions and a new frequency by each center controller. They will even be handed off from one controller to another within in the same center. This requires the flight to acknowledge the handoff and contact the new controller at each handoff. There were plenty of opportunities for ATC to know something was wrong.
Maybe they thought that it was just having radio issues as it was maintaining the filed flight plan until it didn't descend in NY and turned and was going back over the DC airspace. Technically it didn't violate the restricted airspace as it was above the 18,000 foot level. They really should have sent birds up before it got as far as it did.
Masterphreak
Senior Member
Yes, there would have to be a flight plan in place for the altitude they were flying at.
Countrymouse
Country exile in the city
Not on the RETURN trip it wasn't.
I read in a post above that the autopilot, when it reached its destination, if the pilot did not THEN take over and begin landing procedures and lower the landing gear, etc., the system would automatically default to reverse-fly the SAME flight path it had followed going there.
That it didn't hit any other plane is a miracle of God.
Abe Froman
Senior Member
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Countrymouse
Country exile in the city
Summary--he believes this pilot did what the WEF people DON'T want THEIR pilots to do--and it caused him to become medically incapacitated. He thinks maybe the passengers didn't even realize anything was wrong until the plane began spiraling down...................