Current Events > Republican Donor Says Entire Family Was on Crashed Plane Behind D.C. Chaos

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A Florida businessman and prominent political donor identified himself as the owner of a Cessna passenger aircraft that sparked panic as it flew into restricted U.S. airspace over Washington, D.C., Sundaybefore crashing into the Virginia wilderness, according to a report.

The aircraft, which authorities said was piloted by a person who lost consciousness, prompted an aerial chase with Pentagon jets, which caused a sonic boom heard across the D.C. area, officials said.

Virginia State Police tell The Daily Beast that they were not able to locate any survivors at the crash scene.

Both Barbara and her husband, prominent business people in Florida, have donated to a medley of Republican candidates for federal office over the past few years, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to former President Donald Trump and his political organization, according to Federal Election Commission records viewed by The Daily Beast.

The couple donated a combined $250,000 to the Trump Victory PAC in 2020 alone. Then, just two years later, Barbara made a number of donations to controversial candidates, including $2,900 to Georgia Senate hopeful Herschel Walker and $500 to Florida congressional candidate Laura Loomer, a far-right influencer known for making anti-Muslim statements.

Barbara also has direct ties to the Trump Administration. She was listed as a co-chair for a firearm-rights campaign organization supporting the former presidents 2016 run, called the Second Amendment Coalition for Trump-Pence.

A longtime National Rifle Committee member, Barbara has been on the NRAs Womens Leadership Council since 2002 and spent more than six years as an executive committee member, according to her LinkedIn profile.

The flight failed to attract attention until it entered into restricted airspace near the U.S. Capitol, prompting a rapid response from the Pentagon. At least one F-16 was scrambled and quickly went supersonic, causing the boom that shocked residents across the region.

The civilian aircraft was intercepted at approximately 3:20 p.m., the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said shortly after the incident.

One of the Pentagon pilots saw the operator of the Cessna had passed out, a U.S. official told ABC Newsa narrative which was later confirmed by both the U.S. Capitol Police and NORAD.
Shortly after being intercepted, the plane crashed in the Virginia wilderness.

It remains unclear what caused the pilots unconsciousness. Both the FAA and NTSB are investigating the crash.

Probably lost pressure. That causes a slow loss of oxygen and everyone on board just slowly loses consciousness. We'll see.

I feel really bad for the pilot's family

Hopefully it was at least peaceful for them if this was the case.

There was an incident many years ago where that happened and jets were scrambled. Private plane. The jet pilot said the occupants looked asleep. At a certain point in depressurization, everyone feels sleepy & just slowly goes unconscious.

They were ready to shoot it down if it was headed towards any populated area, but IIRC it hit a mountain.

I feel really bad for the pilot's family

There was an incident many years ago where that happened and jets were scrambled. Private plane. The jet pilot said the occupants looked asleep. At a certain point in depressurization, everyone feels sleepy & just slowly goes unconscious.

They were ready to shoot it down if it was headed towards any populated area, but IIRC it hit a mountain.

There was an incident many years ago where that happened and jets were scrambled. Private plane. The jet pilot said the occupants looked asleep. At a certain point in depressurization, everyone feels sleepy & just slowly goes unconscious.

They were ready to shoot it down if it was headed towards any populated area, but IIRC it hit a mountain.

Had one of those in the Baltic Sea last September.
Was a German that flied from Spain to Germany. He pilot mentioned warnings of lost pressure before they lost contact with him. He flied past his airport and continued towards Estonia over the sea. Both German and Danish fighters followed him, and a Swedish rescue chopper. His whole family was in the plane, no survivors.
We followed it live at flightradar24.

Apologies if that was crass? Didn't intent to, just didn't know how to end the sentence.