Plane That Flew Over DC Crashed Almost Straight Down at High Speed, Report Says

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, Va., on June 4, 2023. Randall K. Wolf via AP

An unresponsive business jet that flew off course over the nation’s capital plunged in a “near-vertical descent” into a Virginia mountain at a “high velocity” before bursting into flames, according to a federal report released Wednesday.

The preliminary findings shed little light on what might have caused the June 4 crash, which killed four people. However, outside observers and the plane’s owner have theorized that a lack of oxygen may have led to the crash. Federal investigators found no cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder at the crash site, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report said.