A grief-stricken man has expressed how he wished he had been on the plane that killed his adoptive daughter and granddaughter.
Heartbroken John Rumpel has spoken out over losing his daughter, Adina Azarian, and his granddaughter, Aria, in the private plane crash in rural Virginia, US, last Sunday, June 4.
Four passengers, including Adina, Aria, nanny Evadine Smith and pilot Jeff Hefner, died after the jet they were travelling in lost contact with air traffic controllers and crashed into a mountain in Virginia.
The crash occurred after the plane entered restricted airspace and was intercepted by F-16 fighter jets.
In an emotional interview, Mr Rumpel confessed that he wished he had been on the plane instead of them.
The unresponsive Cessna Citation flew directly over Washington, prompting the launch of military fighter jets that set off a sonic boom around the capital region.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but Mr Rumpel has theorised that the cabin may have lost pressurization, rendering everyone on board unconscious.
Mr Rumpel expressed his devastation and made a heart-breaking confession.
He told the Sun: "Adina and the baby were the love of my life.
"I cared about them more than I cared about living myself. And I wished I'd been on that plane instead of them."
Officials said the pilot stopped responding to air traffic control instructions within minutes of taking off from Tennessee.
The plane flew to New York, near its destination on Long Island, then reversed course, flying directly over Washington.
Fighter pilots tasked with intercepting the wayward flight said Hefner appeared to be unresponsive and slumped over, according to officials.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, though experts said a loss of pressurization inside the cabin was the leading theory.
Adina Azarian, 49, was well known in New York’s real estate circles, a luxury broker whose portfolio of exclusive listings was the envy of colleagues, friends said.
She conceived her daughter during the pandemic, then hired Evadnie Smith, 56, as a live-in nanny in her East Hampton home.
Known to the family as “Nanny V,” Smith travelled frequently with the mother and daughter, serving as a calming counterweight to Azarian’s occupation of high-stress deal-making.
“Adina used to joke that she’d hired the nanny not just for her daughter, but for herself,” recalled Raphael Avigdor, a long-time friend of the realtor.
He said he was so impressed that he hired Ms Smith’s step-sister to care for his mother in Florida.
Mr Rumpel, who owns several planes, said he’d recently hired Jeff Hefner, 69, to work for him full-time as a pilot and mechanic.
He said he’d worked with Mr Hefner previously for about five years.
“He was top shelf, absolutely top shelf,” Rumpel said of Hefner’s piloting skills.
“I wouldn’t have had my daughter and my grandbaby fly with him if he wasn’t.”
Hefner's wife and children said he began as a crop duster and had an aviation career that spanned more than 40 years.
“We are devastated by the the news of this tragedy which took the lives of Jeff and all three passengers.
"Our hearts are full of sorrow for John and Barbara Rumpel for the loss of their daughter, granddaughter and nanny,” the family said in a statement.
