No survivors have been found at the crash site of a light aircraft which earlier scrambled military jets over Washington DC after its "unresponsive" pilot violated airspace around the US capital.
Virginia state police confirmed with the Associated Press when rescuers reached the site of the crash in Shenandoah Valley, no survivors were found.
The private plane was registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne, Florida, according to the flight-tracking website Flight Aware.
Earlier, Encore owner John Rumpel told the Washington Post his daughter, a grandchild and her nanny were on board.
"We know nothing about the crash … we are talking to the [Federal Aviation Administration] now," Mr Rumpel said.
The Cessna appeared to be flying on autopilot, another source familiar with the matter said.
It was not immediately clear why the plane was non responsive, or why it crashed.
The F-16 jets were "authorised to travel at supersonic speeds", which resulted in a loud noise being heard in the area, a statement from the Continental US North American Aerospace Defence Command Region (NORAD) said.
The F-16s used flares "in an attempt to draw attention from the pilot", the statement added.
The civilian aircraft — a Cessna Citation — was intercepted by the NORAD jets at about 3:20pm on Sunday local time, but the pilot was "unresponsive" and the plane ultimately crashed near Virginia's George Washington National Forest.
"NORAD attempted to establish contact with the pilot until the aircraft crashed," the statement said.
A US official said the fighter jets did not cause the crash.
The Cessna took off from Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Tennessee and was bound for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York, about 80 kilometres east of Manhattan.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating the crash.
According to Flight Aware, the plane appeared to reach the New York area and make a nearly 180-degree turn, with the flight ending in Virginia.
Earlier on Sunday, the sonic boom rattled many people in the Washington area who took to Twitter to report hearing a loud noise that shook the ground.
Several residents said they heard the noise as far away as northern Virginia and Maryland.
Reuters/AP/ ABC
