Unresponsive pilot seen slumped over before fatal Virginia plane crash
The pilot of a business jet that flew over Washington and crashed in a remote part of Virginia appeared to be slumped over and unresponsive, two U.S. officials said Monday, recounting observations by fighter pilots who intercepted the wayward flight.
The revelations came as federal investigators trudged through rugged terrain to reach the site where the plane slammed into a mountain Sunday, killing four people. The New York Times reported that the daughter and two-year-old granddaughter of the plane’s owner, John Rumpel were aboard, according to Rumpel. The officials who said that the fighter pilots saw the civilian pilot slumped over had been briefed on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the military operation.
On Sunday, the New Yorkbound plane’s erratic flight path — inexplicably, turning around over Long Island to fly directly over the U.S. capital — prompted the military to scramble fighter jets. This in turn caused a sonic boom heard in Washington, Maryland and Virginia.
Remote terrain around the crash site posed major challenges to the investigation. It took investigators several hours to hike into the rural area near the community of Montebello, about 97 kilometres southwest
of Charlottesville, said NTSB spokesperson Eric Weiss. They expect to be on the scene for at least three to four days.
Speaking at a briefing Monday morning, NTSB investigator Adam Gerhardt said the wreckage is “highly fragmented” and investigators will examine the most delicate evidence at the site, after which the wreckage will be moved, perhaps by helicopter, to Delaware, where it can be further examined. The plane is not required to have a flight recorder but it is possible that there are other avionics equipment that will have data that they can examine, Gerhardt said.
The Virginia State Police issued a statement saying that
because of the severity of the crash, human remains will be transported to the state medical examiner’s office for autopsy and identification. The Federal Aviation Administration said that the victims included the pilot and three passengers but didn’t release their names. There were no survivors.
Investigators will look at when the pilot became unresponsive and why aircraft flew the path that it did, Gerhardt 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.