Global Courant
Just minutes after a doomed journey that ended on a remote mountain in Virginia, the pilot of a business jet failed to respond to air traffic control instructions and the situation was soon reported to a network that includes military, security and law enforcement agencies, the federal government said. government. aviation officials.
Despite no contact during the Sunday afternoon climb, the plane that had just taken off from a Tennessee airport continued to its intended destination on Long Island, then turned to fly back to Virginia, where it crashed into a mountain and killed the four people on board. .
Family and friends identified two of the victims as an entrepreneur known in New York real estate circles and her 2-year-old daughter.
VIRGINIA PLANE CRASH: US JETS SAW SAW PILOT ‘STROKE FORWARD’ DURING AIRBORNE INTERCEPTANCE BEFORE DEATH CRASH
Outside aviation experts continued to speculate that the pilot probably lost consciousness from a lack of oxygen in the jet as it climbed above 10,000 feet, the altitude that normally requires cabin pressurization.
“The most likely scenario at this point is a pressurization failure or a misadjustment of the pressurization system,” said Alan Diehl, an aviation psychologist who previously worked for the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board and the United States Air Force. In the late 1960s, Diehl also helped design the original model of the aircraft, the Cessna Citation, which crashed in Virginia.
It is unclear when the pilot stopped responding to air traffic controllers. But their last attempt to reach him occurred 15 minutes after takeoff, according to the FAA.
The plane could have surpassed 3,000 feet in just minutes, Diehl said. However, the pilot may have had to wait some time after takeoff before being cleared to fly to higher altitudes.
Depending on the height of the jet and the pilot’s age and health, he likely had minutes — or even less than a minute — to react when his brain suffered an oxygen deprivation, Diehl said.
“The only other thing they probably can’t eliminate at this point is some sort of medical problem,” Diehl said.
A heart attack, brain aneurysm, and over-the-counter medications, such as antihistamines, can affect a pilot’s ability to fly the plane and recognize that there may be a problem with the oxygen level and cabin pressure.
Fighter jet pilots sent to intercept the business jet reported that the pilot appeared slumped and unresponsive, three US officials said Monday. The officials were briefed on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss details of the military operation.
Authorities secure the entrance to Mine Bank Trail, an access point to the rescue operation along the Blue Ridge Parkway where a Cessna Citation crashed over mountainous terrain near Montebello, Virginia. The pilot of the plane, who lost contact with air traffic control shortly after takeoff, is said to have lost consciousness during takeoff. (Randall K. Wolf via AP)
The plane took an erratic flight path — turning around Long Island to fly directly over the nation’s capital — prompting the military to use fighter jets. This caused a sonic boom that was heard in Washington, Maryland and Virginia.
On Monday, it took investigators several hours to move into the rural area where the plane crashed, about 60 miles southwest of Charlottesville. They expect to be on site for at least three to four days.
Diehl, the aviation psychologist, said investigators often dig deep into a pilot’s background after a crash. For example, did he or she have training in the military to recognize the signs of low cabin pressure? Were they a risk taker? What were the results of their last physical flight?
Investigators will also review recordings of the pilot’s last communication with air traffic control. They will check for a change in speech patterns, such as speaking more slowly, which could indicate low oxygen levels. But testing oxygen levels in blood and human tissue could be unlikely given the major impact of the crash, Diehl said.
At a briefing Monday, NTSB investigator Adam Gerhardt said the wreck is “highly fragmented” and investigators will examine the most delicate evidence at the scene, then transport the wreck, perhaps by helicopter, to Delaware where it can be examined further. . . It was not clear whether the aircraft had a flight data recorder. A preliminary report will be released in 10 days.
Virginia state police said human remains will be taken to the state’s medical examiner’s office for autopsy and identification. Authorities said the victims included the pilot and three passengers. There were no survivors.
The plane took off from Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Tennessee at 1:13 p.m. Sunday, bound for MacArthur Airport in Long Island, New York. According to the NTSB, air traffic control lost communication with the plane during takeoff.
Preliminary information indicates that air traffic control’s last attempt to communicate with the plane was at about 1:28 p.m., when the plane was at 31,000 feet, the NTSB said. About eight minutes later, the FAA reported the situation to the Domestic Events Network, which includes the military, national security, homeland security and other law enforcement agencies.
The plane climbed to 34,000 feet, where it remained for the rest of the flight until 3:23 p.m. when it began to descend and crashed about nine minutes later, according to the NTSB. The plane was flying at 34,000 feet (10,363 kilometers) when it flew over MacArthur Airport at 2:33 p.m., the NTSB said.
The plane flew straight over the country’s capital. According to the Pentagon, six F-16 fighter jets were deployed to intercept the plane, including two from a base in Maryland, two from New Jersey and two from South Carolina.
PROMINENT FLORIDA FAMILY LINKED TO PLANE FLYING OVER DC CRASHED IN VIRGINIA MOUNTAINS
The crashed plane was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc in Florida. John Rumpel, a pilot who runs the company, said his family returned to their Long Island home after visiting his home in North Carolina.
In interviews with the New York Times and Newsday, Rumpel identified his daughter, Adina Azarian, and 2-year-old granddaughter Aria as two of the victims.
Azarian, 49, was well known in New York real estate circles, described by friends and relatives as a fiercely competitive entrepreneur who started her own real estate business and raised her daughter as a single parent.
“Being a mother was everything to her,” says Tara Brivic-Looper, a close friend who grew up with Azarian. “That they were together (in the end) is fitting.”
Friends say Azarian moved to East Hampton full-time to raise Aria, with the help of a nanny. But she made regular trips home, bringing both Aria and the nanny to her close-knit extended family several times over the past few months.
“She seemed so happy there,” her cousin, Andrew Azarian, recalled. “Even their life hadn’t even begun.”
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“How could this happen?” he continued. “Nobody can explain it.”
