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The private plane that crashed into a mountainous area in Virginia after becoming unresponsive flying over the capital echoes the 1999 death of golfer Payne Stewart whose Learjet flew for thousands of miles before crashing into fields.

Stewart's Learjet was en route from Orlando to Dallas on October 25, 1999, when it lost cabin pressure and flew aimlessly across the country with the professional golfer aboard. 

The Learjet 35 aircraft continued to fly for thousands of miles with the pilot and passengers unresponsive before eventually crashing when it ran out of fuel in fields, killing five people. 

In the case of Stewart's flight, the plane lost cabin pressure, causing the occupants to lose consciousness after becoming deprived of oxygen.

Investigators said the Learjet crashed after the aircraft failed to pressurize.

Stewart (pictured) and four others died

Rescue personnel walk past the scene of the crash that killed golfer Payne Stewart in October 1999

A large external piece of Payne Stewart's Learjet 35 is taken for examination after the crash 

The journey began in Florida with the destination set for Texas, where Stewart and his companions had a business engagement. 

The aircraft continued climbing past its assigned altitude but then failed to make the westward turn toward Dallas and instead continued flying on a northwestern course, traveling over the southern and midwestern U.S.

for almost four hours and 1,500 miles.  

Air traffic controllers became concerned when they were unable to establish communication with the plane and F-16 fighter jets were deployed to intercept and investigate the situation.

After reaching the Learjet, the fighter pilots observed the cockpit windows to be frosted, suggesting a loss of cabin pressure. 

The National Transportation Safety Board faces a wall of journalists during a press conference following the plane crash that killed golfer Payne Stewart in October 1999

A South Dakota state trooper points to the sky over the scene near Mina, South Dakota, where Stewart's plane came down following pressurization failure during its  flight to Dallas, Texas

Despite attempts to establish visual contact with the occupants or communicate with them, there was no response. 

The Learjet continued its pre-programmed flight plan, suggesting the crew and passengers had become unconscious due to oxygen deprivation. 

The National Transportation Safety Board conducted an investigation to determine the cause of the accident and concluded that the probable cause of the accident was incapacitation of the flight crew due to hypoxia, a lack of oxygen. 

A subsequent investigation revealed that a small hole in the plane's pressurization system caused a gradual loss of cabin pressure, leading to the crew and passengers succumbing to hypoxia.

Florida woman and NRA Director posted a heartbreaking tribute to her daughter and granddaughter after it was confirmed that no one survived as unresponsive business plane that flew over the nation's capital before crashing on Sunday afternoon

The Cessna Citation took off from Elizabethtown, Tennessee, and was bound for Long Island's MacArthur Airport but it made a u-turn after reaching the New York area

On its return to the Virginia area, the plane flew extremely close to the capital, although was at high altitude

By comparison, in Sunday's crash the Federal Aviation Administration says the Cessna Citation took off from Elizabethtown, Tennessee, penipu and was bound for Long Island's MacArthur Airport. 

Inexplicably, the plane appeared to reach the New York area then made nearly a 180-degree turn over Long Island and flew a straight path back down over Washington D.C.

before it crashed over mountainous terrain near Montebello, Virginia, around 3:30pm.

It was not immediately clear why the plane was non-responsive or why it crashed.

The plane flew directly over the nation's capital, though it was technically flying above some of the most heavily restricted airspace in the nation.

As in the Payne Stewart crash, a military jet was scrambled to respond to the small plane, which wasn't responding to radio transmissions.

The Rumpels are large-scale donors to conservative political candidates, including former President Donald Trump, having given a combined $250,000 to a PAC supporting Trump's 2020 campaign 

Flight tracking sites showed the jet suffered a rapid spiraling descent, dropping at one point at a rate of more than 30,000 feet per minute before crashing in the St.

Mary's Wilderness.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command later said in a statement that the F-16 was authorized to travel at supersonic speeds, which caused a sonic boom that was heard in Washington and parts of Virginia and Maryland.

The U.S.

military attempted to contact the pilot, who was unresponsive as the  Cessna aircraft appeared to be flying on autopilot.

'During this event, the NORAD aircraft also used flares - which may have been visible to the public - in an attempt to draw attention from the pilot,' the statement said.

'Flares are employed with highest regard for safety of the intercepted aircraft and people on the ground.

Flares burn out quickly and completely and there is no danger to the people on the ground when dispensed.'

Virginia State Police said troopers were notified of the potential crash shortly before 4pm and rescuers reached the crash site by foot around four hours later.
No survivors were found, police said.

Rumpel told the of his family members' likely last moments, saying 'they all just would have gone to sleep and never woke up.' 

State police confirmed the wreckage of the plane was found in the Staunton/Blue Ridge Parkway area, in a rural part of the Shenandoah Valley and that no survivors were found.

'At 3:50 p.m.

Sunday (June 4, 2023), the Virginia State Police was notified of a possible aircraft crash in the Staunton/Blue Ridge Parkway region,' a spokesperson for Virginia State Police said. 

'Search efforts by the Virginia State Police, Augusta County Sheriff's Office and Augusta County Fire-Rescue immediately got underway by ground and air across the region. 

'Shortly before 8 p.m.
Sunday (June 4, 2023), first responders were able to reach the crash site by foot. 

'State police has suspended its search efforts. No survivors were located.'

The plane that crashed was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc, which is based in Florida. A Cessna Citation can carry between seven and 12 passengers.

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

Search and rescue teams leave the command post at St.

Mary's Wilderness en route to the Blue Ridge Parkway

A photo Barbara Rumpel had previously shared online of her young granddaughter

The plane that crashed was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc, which is based in Florida.

A Cessna Citation can carry between seven and 12 passengers

John Rumpel, who runs the company, told  that his daughter, two-year-old granddaughter, her nanny and the pilot were aboard the plane. 

They were returning to their home in East Hampton, on Long Island, after visiting his house in North Carolina, he said.

Rumpel, a pilot, told the newspaper he didn't have much information from authorities but hoped his family didn't suffer and suggested the plane could've lost pressurization.

'I don't think they've found the wreckage yet,' Rumpel told the newspaper.

'It descended at 20,000 feet a minute, and nobody could survive a crash from that speed.'