WASHINGTON — It was only 15 minutes after a Cessna 560 Citation civilian jet took off from an airport in northeastern Tennessee on Sunday that the aircraft, bound for New York, stopped responding to air traffic controllers, the Federal Aviation Administration said on Monday -- as new details emerged about an unusual episode in the skies over the nation's capital.
About 80 minutes after takeoff, the Cessna, having apparently been unresponsive to the outside world for more than an hour, made it to the intended destination on Long Island, flight tracking software shows.At that point, one U.S. official told ABC News, concerns grew significantly. Until then, the Cessna had been following its flight path and was being tracked on radar by the FAA, even despite the lack of communication.
As the military jets raced toward the craft from three bases in Maryland, New Jersey and South Carolina, one of the F-16s from New Jersey is believed to have created a thunderous sonic boom heard over much of Washington and its suburbs, according to NORAD. "NORAD pilots visually confirmed that the Cessna pilot was unresponsive," a second U.S. official said.
But NORAD's view of the situation changed after the plane turned back over Long Island because it was now flying on an unknown flight plan which raised security concerns, one of the U.S. officials said. "The actual standards [for scrambling jets] are classified, but there is a good bit of judgement involved," retired Marine Col. Stephen Ganyard, an ABC News contributor, said onIt appears that military officials decided not to shoot the Cessna down because it was maintaining a constant high altitude and heading, meaning it wasn't seen as a threat, Ganyard said.
Adina Azarian, a prominent New York real estate agent and her daughter, Aria, were identified as among the dead, according to Azarian's employer.
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