After Virginia plane crash, investigators to begin wreckage recovery; victims remembered
WASHINGTON – Investigators planned to recover wreckage Tuesday from the "highly inaccessible and very remote" site in a Virginia mountain where a small private plane crashed, killing the four people on board, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The location of the crash makes the already challenging task of understanding what caused the Cessna 560 Citation V to veer hundreds of miles off course after making a U-Turn over Long Island in New York even more difficult, NTSB investigator Adam Gerhardt said Monday. Federal investigators had to hike for several hours to reach the site near rural Montebello, Virginia, about 60 miles southwest of Charlottesville, and they expect to remain there for three to four days, according to the NTSB.
The plane flew into restricted airspace over the nation's capitol Sunday, prompting the military to scramble F-16 fighter jets at supersonic speed to intercept it. Three U.S. officials briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the fighter jet pilots reported seeing the Cessna pilot slumped over.
Gerhardt said Monday that after investigators examine the “highly fragmented” wreckage at the site, it will be moved, possibly by helicopter, to Delaware for further inspection as officials try to uncover what caused the crash. Gerhardt said the plane is not required to have a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder, but the plane may have had other equipment investigators can gather data from "that's, of course, not quite as good as a black box, but it can still be helpful for the investigation."
Air Traffic Control lost contact with the plane during ascent
The plane took off from Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Tennessee at 1:13 p.m., bound for the Long Island MacArthur Airport, the NTSB said in a statement. Air Traffic Control lost communication with the plane during its ascent and last attempted communication about 15 minutes after takeoff when the plane was at 31,000 feet.
The plane climbed to 34,000 feet and flew over the Long Island airport at 2:33 p.m., according to the NTSB. It remained at 34,000 feet until it began to descend less than 10 minutes before the crash at 3:23 p.m.
Flight tracking sites showed the jet underwent a rapid, spiraling descent, dropping at a rate of more than 30,000 feet per minute before crashing into the remote wilderness near the George Washington National Forest.
Audio appears to capture military pilots trying to contact plane
As the plane flew near Washington, six jets from three locations were launched, and F-16 fighters from the D.C. National Guard intercepted the plane at about 3:20 p.m. Air Traffic Control audio from the half-hour before the crash captured voices that identify themselves as military pilots trying to communicate with the pilot, according to recordings on LiveATC.net.
“If you hear this transmission, contact us,” said one pilot who identifies herself as being with the Air National Guard.
Several minutes later, a military pilot says: “You have been intercepted. Contact me.”
The pilot never responded to attempts to establish communication, North American Aerospace Defense Command said.
Cause of crash still under investigation
Gerhardt said investigators are working to determine when the pilot became unresponsive and why the airplane flew where it did. He said they will examine several factors including the airplane, its engines, pilot qualifications, maintenance records and weather conditions as they remove pieces of the wreckage that could help determine what caused the crash.
A preliminary report will be released within 10 days, he said Monday, but a final report could take one to two years.
John Rumpel, a pilot who runs the company the plane was registered to, told the New York Times he didn’t have much information from authorities but suggested the plane could have lost pressurization.
Friends, family remember those killed in crash
The Federal Aviation Administration said that the victims included the pilot and three passengers but didn’t release their names. Rumpel told both the New York Times and Newsday his daughter, Adina Azarian, and 2-year-old granddaughter, Aria, as well as Aria's nanny were killed in the crash.
He identified the pilot as Jeff Hefner, the Washington Post reported. Dan Newlin, an attorney in Florida, told the Post in an email Hefner had flown for him before and described him as a “highly accomplished and skilled Aviator” who was survived by his wife and three kids.
Azarian, 49, began working for real estate company Keller Williams in 2011, according to a social media post from the company.
"Adina was an exceptional member of our Keller Williams Points North team, as well as the original Team Leader of Keller Williams NYC, known for her dedication, professionalism, and warm spirit," the company said in a message to employees shared with USA TODAY.
She was described by friends and relatives as a fiercely competitive entrepreneur who also started her own brokerage and was raising her daughter as a single parent.
“Being a mom was everything to her,” said Tara Brivic-Looper, a close friend who grew up with Azarian on the Upper East Side.
Dig deeper
A sonic boom over Washington: Breaking down the Cessna 560 Citation plane crash in Virginia
What is hypoxia? What to know about the condition caused by low oxygen levels
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Virginia plane crash: Investigators to begin wreckage recovery
