Private Cessna jet crashes in Virginia after it 'violated DC airspace' and sparked Pentagon to scram

[Smokin Joe]

None of that explains why a plane with all aboard dead would do a 180 degree turn in flight.

Hypoxia causes  increased breathing rate, headache, lightheadedness, dizziness, tingling or warm sensations, sweating, poor coordination, impaired judgment, tunnel vision, and euphoria, depending on the person.

Short of evidence to the contrary, and awaiting confirmation, it would appear that the pilot was (along with the rest of the folks on the plane) already suffering from hypoxia before they arrived, and managed to turn the plane toward 'home' and set the autopilot. 
The plane crashed as it ran out of fuel.
Impaired judgement and confusion could account for the reversal of heading. If that is the case, had they descended and landed at their original destination, chances are they would have made it.

This is just speculation on my part.

I will wait for the results of investigations.

[libertybele]

Hypoxia causes  increased breathing rate, headache, lightheadedness, dizziness, tingling or warm sensations, sweating, poor coordination, impaired judgment, tunnel vision, and euphoria, depending on the person.

Short of evidence to the contrary, and awaiting confirmation, it would appear that the pilot was (along with the rest of the folks on the plane) already suffering from hypoxia before they arrived, and managed to turn the plane toward 'home' and set the autopilot. 
The plane crashed as it ran out of fuel.
Impaired judgement and confusion could account for the reversal of heading. If that is the case, had they descended and landed at their original destination, chances are they would have made it.

This is just speculation on my part.

I will wait for the results of investigations.

 

[PeteS in CA]

An unexplained question is evidence of ... what?

[mountaineer]

Didn't that happen to a professional golfer about 25 years ago?  His plane went silent and then flew across most of the country before finally crashing; I think they determined that there was a loss of cabin pressure that basically knocked everyone out and made it impossible for them to recover.

Yes, thus my reference above to Payne Stewart. That was hard to watch in real time, as we just waited for the jet to run out of fuel. Fortunately, it landed in an unpopulated area; the pilot and all passengers had died painlessly before the plane hit the ground.

[Hoodat]

MSN

WRIC Richmond reports:More via MSN

‘A very challenging accident site’: Plane crash investigator shares details of Cessna jet incident
Story by Tannock Blair • 4h ago

NELSON COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — As the investigation continues, new details are being released in connection to a business jet that crashed in mountainous terrain in Nelson County Sunday afternoon.

According to authorities, a Cessna Citation 560 — a turbine twin-engine aircraft — took off from Elizabethtown, Tenn., and was headed to Long Island McArthur Airport in New York. During the en-route portion of the flight, the airplane became unresponsive, prompting F-16 fighter jets to be deployed from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and intercept the private plane. The plane then crashed approximately 2-3 miles north of Montebello, Va. in heavily wooded and rural terrain around 3:30 p.m. Sunday.  ...

My bad.  I thought it crashed in Augusta County.

[Cyber Liberty]

I read that one of the fighter pilots saw the Cessna pilot, who appeared to be unconscious. Sounded like a Payne Stewart type of situation to me.

Me too.

[mountaineer]

Prominent Trump Donor's 'Entire Family' Killed in Plane Crash
By Charlie McCarthy    |   Monday, 05 June 2023 11:35 AM EDT

A man who has donated to former President Donald Trump and other Republicans says the four people killed when a private jet crashed into the mountains of Virginia included members of his family.

No survivors were found at the crash site, which resulted Sunday after the United States scrambled F-16 fighter jets in a supersonic chase of a light aircraft with an unresponsive pilot that violated airspace around Washington D.C.

John Rumpel told The Washington Post that his "entire family" — i.e. his daughter, a grandchild and nanny — was on board the Cessna Citation that crashed near Montebello, Virginia, around 3:30 p.m. Sunday. ...

Rumpel has a history of donations to Republican candidates and causes, including Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., according to Open Secrets.

Rumpel and his wife Barbara own Encore Motors of Melbourne, Florida. The jet that crashed was an Encore plane.

Barbara also is a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) Women's Leadership Forum.  ...

Newsmax

His and Mrs. Rumpel's political activties are not the least bit relevant to this plane crash (except there actually is proof on sabotage), but I guess it was too boring to describe him as a business owner.

[PeteS in CA]

Montebello, VA is about 140 miles from the center of WashDC. Any reports on the altitude at which the Cessna was flying?

[Kamaji]

Montebello, VA is about 140 miles from the center of WashDC. Any reports on the altitude at which the Cessna was flying?

I think the tail number was:  N611VG

Source:  https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/314788

Some of the flight data is available from flightradar24.com, here:  https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n611vg#3093ec91

[mountaineer]

I love flightradar24. Fascinating. It looks like this jet maintained at 34,000 ft for quite a while before it started the descent.

[Smokin Joe]

I love flightradar24. Fascinating. It looks like this jet maintained at 34,000 ft for quite a while before it started the descent.

Plenty high enough for everyone to pass out from lack of oxygen.

[MOD3]

Merged threads

[goatprairie]

Prominent Trump Donor's 'Entire Family' Killed in Plane Crash
By Charlie McCarthy    |   Monday, 05 June 2023 11:35 AM EDT Newsmax

His and Mrs. Rumpel's political activties are not the least bit relevant to this plane crash (except there actually is proof on sabotage), but I guess it was too boring to describe him as a business owner.

Well, the writer of the article’s name is Charlie McCarthy. What do you expect from a dummy?

[PeteS in CA]

This article is from a couple of days ago, https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/cessna-crash-virginia-june-5-2023 . About the only new details are that the crash site has been found, and investigators are working on scene. Apparently the aircraft crashed more or less nose-in (not multiple pieces over a mile(s)-long debris field).

[PeteS in CA]

From https://www.cbsnews.com/news/plane-crash-virginia-4-died-military-jet-sonic-boom-faa/ :

The plane is not required to have a flight recorder, commonly referred to as a black box, but it is possible that it had one. Investigators were still searching for it as of Monday evening. There are, however, other pieces of avionics equipment that will have data that investigators can examine, Gerhardt said.

Investigators will look at when the pilot become unresponsive and why the aircraft flew the path that it did, he said. They will consider several factors that are routinely examined in such probes including the plane, its engines, weather conditions, pilot qualifications and maintenance records, he said.
...
A preliminary report will be released in 10 days and a final report will be released in 12 to 24 months, he said.
...
Flight tracking sites showed the plane suffered a rapid spiraling descent, dropping at one point at a rate of more than 30,000 feet per minute before crashing in the St. Mary's Wilderness.

[DB]

From https://www.cbsnews.com/news/plane-crash-virginia-4-died-military-jet-sonic-boom-faa/ :

Dropping 30,000 feet per minute is about 341 MPH straight down.