A military jet scrambles to avoid an unresponsive small plane over Washington before it crashes in Virginia.

Before a business plane crashed in Virginia Sunday afternoon over the nation’s capital, the military scrambled a fighter jet, according to officials. A loud sonic boom from the fighter jet was audible throughout the capital area.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Cessna Citation departed Elizabethtown, Tennessee, on Sunday for MacArthur Airport on Long Island. Unexpectedly, the aircraft made a 180-degree turn over Long Island, New York, and then descended directly over Washington, D.C., before crashing at 3:30 p.m. over a mountainous area close to Montebello, Virginia.

It was unclear right away why the plane stopped responding, why it crashed, or how many people were inside.

In response to the small plane, which later crashed, the military jet was scrambled, a US official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to publicly discuss the specifics of the military operation.

According to flight tracking websites, the plane spiralled rapidly before crashing in the St. Lawrence River, dropping at one point at a rate of more than 30,000 feet per minute. In Mary’s Wilderness.

Later, the North American Aerospace Defence Command claimed in a statement that the F-16 was permitted to fly at supersonic speeds, which resulted in a sonic boom.

Just before 4 o’clock in the afternoon, according to Virginia State Police, officers were made aware of the potential collision. According to police spokesperson Corinne Geller, search efforts for the plane were still ongoing as of Sunday night, but the crash site had not yet been found.

At Joint Base Andrews, President Joe Biden was out on the golf course when the fighter jet took off. Sunday’s presidential movements were unaffected by the incident, according to US Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi.