UPDATE 6/6 (WFXR) – NTSB calls the recovery “challenging” at the remote Augusta County plane crash site but they will be there as long as it takes.
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UPDATE 4:00 P.M. 6/5 (WFXR) – Virginia State Police say they have returned to the site of the crashed plane in Augusta County early Monday to search for evidence and begin recovery of the victim’s bodies.
Officials say the site is located about a mile from the Blue Ridge Parkway and due to the severity of the crash, the remains will be transported to the Office of the Virginia Medical Examiner for autopsies and positive identification.
The NTSB will continue to lead the investigation and will provide additional updates. VSP says the next of kin will be notified before they release the identities of the victims.
WFXR News will continue to update you with new information as it is released.
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UPDATE 12:00 P.M. 6/5 (WFXR) – The NTSB held a press conference and gave an update on the plane crash and what will come next in their investigation.
NTSB Senior Air Safety Investigator, Adam Gerhardt said the plane was a Cessna 560 twin-engine aircraft, flight number N611 VG. It departed from Elizabethton, Tennessee, and was heading to Long Island MacArthur Airport near NYC. At some point, the pilot became unresponsive before being intercepted by the F-16s. It then crashed into heavily wooded and rural terrain in Augusta County, near the Nelson County border.
“We are here not only to figure out what happened, but why this happened, to prevent future accidents from happening again, and want to express condolences to the lives lost.” – Adam Gerhardt Senior Air Safety Investigator, NTSB
Gerhardt says the investigation is in the preliminary fact-finding stage and will be looking for empirical evidence. The crash site will take “extensive time to reach” and the wreckage is highly fragmented.
The plane, engine, weather conditions, pilot qualifications, maintenance records, flight plan, as well as why the pilot changed direction will all be examined during the investigation. Gerhardt says the plane was not required to have a black box or cockpit voice or flight data recorder, but they will be looking into whether that equipment was installed.
Within 10 days, a preliminary report will be available at NTSB.gov and will contain findings from the on-scene investigation. The final report will take between 12 to 24 months to complete and will contain a detailed factual analysis of the cause of the incident.
The NTSB excepts to be on site for at least 3 to 4 days and will be transporting wreckage by helicopter to a secure facility in Delaware.
WFXR News will continue to update you with more information as it is released.
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UPDATE 10:16 P.M. 6/4 (WFXR) – After several hours of searching, Virginia State Police (VSP) has reported they located the crash site and that search & rescue efforts have resulted in no survivors.
According to VSP, the crash site was found in the Nelson County area around 8 p.m. on Sunday. Law enforcement told WFXR News that rescue teams located the crash site on foot and immediately began looking for survivors by ground and air.
VSP says they have suspended their search.
The Associated Press (AP) has reported the plane was registered to a business in Florida, Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc. The New York Times spoke with John Rumpel, who runs the company, and learned onboard was his daughter, 2-year-old granddaughter, their nanny, and the pilot.
They were on their way home in East Hampton, on Long Island, after visiting him in North Carolina.
WFXR News will continue to update you with new information as it is released.
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STAUNTON, Va. (WFXR) — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says a Cessna Citation aircraft crashed into the mountainous terrain near the Montebello area on June 4.
According to FAA, the aircraft crashed around 3:30 p.m., after it took off from the Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Elizabethton, Tennessee. Reports say the craft was set to land at the Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York.
Virginia State Police says at this time, a search is underway in the Staunton and Blue Ridge Parkway area, but a crash site has not been located. State Police say due to fog and low clouds within the mountains, crews are unable to fly.
According to the Washington Post, the sonic boom that was heard in the DMV area on Sunday was related to an incident involving an aircraft that crashed in the Montebello area.
The City of Bowie Maryland said, “The loud boom heard in the area was from a plane out of the Joint Base Andrews.” Authorities with the City of Annapolis Office of Emergency Management, also confirmed the loud boom was caused by an authorized DOD flight.
According to the Washington Post, the F-16 jets from Joint Base Andrews scrambled to intercept the plane, and the aircraft was unresponsive when ordered by authorities. U.S. officials say they continued to pursue the aircraft in the mountainous terrain in Staunton and Blue Ridge area when the aircraft crashed.
The Office of the Secretary of Defense stated that F-16s were “authorized to travel at supersonic speeds” to intercept the unresponsive Cessna and that during the incident they utilized flares to “draw attention from the pilot.”
Officials say flares burn quickly, present no danger to the public on the ground when dispensed once completely burnt out, and are used with the highest regard for safety in mind.
The FAA and NTSB are investigating the incident, details about aircraft or possible passengers have not been released at this time.
This is a developing story. WFXR News has a crew heading to the scene and will update you with additional details as they are released.
