Cessna plane crashes in Virginia after passing through restricted DC airspace; NORAD dispatched

Boom across DMV a result of F-16 investigating jet

A loud sonic boom was reported around 3pm across DC, Maryland and Virginia - which later turned out to be from a sonic boom dispatched from NORAD due to a wayward aircraft entering DC airspace. The F-16 caught up with the plane and saw the pilot was unconscious and the aircraft crashed in southwest Virginia shortly after. David Kaplan is on the scene from Joint Base Andrews. Further, FOX 5 Meteorologist Jen Delgado explains the sonic boom and how it was picked up by seismometers.

A scary and confusing situation unfolded across the D.C. region Sunday afternoon after an unresponsive small plane flew over the nation's capital. The situation caused the military to scramble an F-16 fighter jet before the plane crashed in Virginia. The fighter jet caused a loud sonic boom that was heard across the D.C. region.

When FOX 5 reached out to the FAA for a statement on the sonic boom / explosion sound heard across the area, the FAA provided this response, at first, seemingly unrelated:

"A Cessna Citation crashed into mountainous terrain in a sparsely populated area of southwest Virginia around 3 p.m. local time on June 4. The aircraft took off from Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Elizabethton, Tenn., and was bound for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York. The FAA and NTSB will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and provide all further updates."

Later, it was confirmed that F-16s were scrambled to respond to a Cessna aircraft entering D.C. airspace unexpectedly. It is not clear if the aircraft entered the space intentionally or due to a medical emergency.

NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command told FOX News that "The civilian aircraft was intercepted at approximately 3:20 p.m. Eastern Time. The pilot was unresponsive and the Cessna subsequently crashed near the George Washington National Forest, Virginia. NORAD attempted to establish contact with the pilot until the aircraft crashed."

FOX 5's David Kaplan connected with WHSV-TV who received a statement from the Virginia State police regarding the crash.

According to FlightAware, an aircraft registered as N611VG took off from the airport, flew over New Jersey, New York and then is shown descending into a mountain in Virginia.

This screenshot is from FlightAware as of 4:45 PM on June 4th related to N611VG.