Sonic boom caused by US military exercise rattles DMV residents

Residents across the Washington, D.C. region felt or heard a sonic boom caused by the Department of Defense Sunday afternoon after an F-16 fighter jet responded to an unresponsive aircraft.  

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) for the Continental U.S. said in a statement that a NORAD F-16 fighter jet responded to an unresponsive Cessna 560 Citation V aircraft that was flying over Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia on Sunday afternoon. The statement noted that the jet was authorized to travel at supersonic speeds, which is why residents may have heard a sonic boom.

“The pilot was unresponsive and the Cessna subsequently crashed near the George Washington National Forest, Virginia. NORAD attempted to establish contact with the pilot until the aircraft crashed,” the statement said.

The statement also added that the NORAD aircraft used flares to draw attention from the pilot, noting that there was “no danger” to people on the ground from the use of flares.

The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement to The Hill that a Cessna Citation crashed into “mountainous terrain near Montebello, Va.,” at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the incident, according to the FAA statement. 

The loud noise heard across the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area (DMV) came from the authorized flight by the Defense Department, according to the Annapolis Office of Emergency Management. The D.C. office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management also confirmed that there was no threat to residents at the time.  

“The loud boom that was heard across the DMV area was caused by an authorized DOD flight. This flight caused a sonic boom. That is all the information available at this time,” the Annapolis office tweeted.   

“We are aware of reports from communities throughout the National Capital Region of a loud ‘boom’ this afternoon. There is no threat at this time,” D.C. Homeland Security & Emergency Management tweeted.  

A sonic boom is a loud noise caused by “an object moving faster than sound,” like an aircraft, according to the U.S. Air Force website. The noise is caused from a sudden change in pressure as the aircraft soars at “supersonic speeds,” the website added.  

NBC News reported that local police departments in D.C. and in Maryland said they sent police units to neighborhoods and could not find any other source for the explosion sound.

The U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement that the Capitol building was briefly placed on an “elevated alert” in connection to the incident.

“This afternoon, our officials were working closely with our federal partners to monitor an unresponsive pilot who was flying an airplane near the National Capital Region. The U.S. Capitol Complex was briefly placed on an elevated alert until the airplane left the area,” the agency tweeted.

Updated at 7:33 pm ET.