Florida Businessman's Daughter, Granddaughter Killed in Plane Crash

A devastating plane crash in the mountains of Virginia on Sunday has resulted in the loss of four lives, including the daughter and granddaughter of a well-known Florida businessman and a member of the National Rifle Association's (NRA) executive committee, Fox News reports.

The tragic incident unfolded when a Cessna jet violated restricted airspace in Washington, DC, before crashing.

Barbara Rumpel, an NRA Women's Leadership Forum member, took to Facebook on Sunday night to express her grief, revealing that her family had been among the victims.

However, her Facebook profile is currently inaccessible to the public as of Monday morning.

The plane's owner, John Rumpel, who serves as the head of Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc., a Florida company, confirmed the heartbreaking news.

He disclosed that his daughter, 2-year-old granddaughter, the child's babysitter, and the pilot were all on board the ill-fated flight.

According to Rumpel, they had recently departed from his residence in North Carolina and were en route to East Hampton, Long Island, when the tragedy occurred.

Cessna Jet Pilot Losses Consciousness, Causing the Plane Crash

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed on Monday that a tragic Cessna Citation crash near Waynesboro, Virginia, claimed the lives of one pilot and three passengers. According to official reports, there were no survivors.

Investigators are now focusing on the possibility of hypoxia, a condition caused by a lack of oxygen in the blood, as a potential factor in the accident, per CNN.

Concerns have been raised over the pilot and passengers' failure to respond to attempts made by air traffic controllers and other civilian aircraft to establish contact with the ill-fated plane.

Aviation experts speculate that the insidious risk of hypoxia, particularly during high-altitude flights, may have been triggered by a decompression event in the aircraft's pressurized cabin.

At an altitude of 34,000 feet, the pilots would have had only 30 to 60 seconds to don their gas masks before experiencing a drop in cabin pressure.

Without prompt action, they would have rapidly lost consciousness during their journey from East Tennessee to Long Island, New York.

According to the FAA statement and data from the air travel tracking website FlightAware, communication with the jet was lost a mere 15 minutes after takeoff.

Unresponsive Cessna Jet Prompts US Jet Fighters to Intercept

The unresponsive Cessna jet, belonging to a prominent Florida businessman, flew over Washington DC's skies, leading to the deployment of military fighter jets and a resounding sonic boom that reverberated throughout the nation's capital and Virginia, CBS News noted.

Tragically, the aircraft later crashed in Virginia, resulting in the loss of four lives, according to authorities.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) swiftly mobilized F-16 fighter jets to intercept the unresponsive Cessna as it traversed the airspace over Washington, DC, and Virginia.

NORAD confirmed that the scramble operation was executed by the 113th Fighter Wing of the DC National Guard, as disclosed by a US official.

"The NORAD aircraft were authorized to travel at supersonic speeds, and a sonic boom may have been heard by residents of the region," NORAD stated.

The command also revealed that flares were employed to get the Cessna jet pilot's attention, and these flares may have been visible to the public.

Quick-thinking residents who happened to capture the loud sonic boom on video swiftly took to social media, sharing their footage and describing the startling disruption that pierced the otherwise serene afternoon.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

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