NTSB releases report on 2023 plane crash in that killed four after leaving Elizabethton

NELSON COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) – The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its Aviation Investigation Final Report into the plane crash that killed four people at a remote location near the Blue Ridge Parkway in Nelson County, Virginia in June 2023. The plane departed from Elizabethton Municipal Airport and was bound for New York. The NTSB said the cause of the crash was pilot incapacitation due to loss of cabin pressurization leading to hypoxia or oxygen deprivation for all passengers, as well as several other contributing factors, including an inadequate oxygen system and a missing pilot-side oxygen mask (Page 2), issues with the pressurization and environmental control system (Pages 2 & 6), overdue inspections (Page 2), a delay in detecting pressurization failure (Page 2), and the decision to operate the aircraft with known maintenance issues (Page 2). "Pilot incapacitation due to loss of cabin pressure for undetermined reasons. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s and owner/operator’s decision to operate the airplane without supplemental oxygen." - (NTSB Report, Page 3) On June 4, 2023, a Cessna 560 Citation V took off from Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Tennessee with the daughter of Florida businessman and plane owner John Rumpel, his 2-year-old granddaughter, and their nanny. The trio was on their way to East Hampton, Long Island, after visiting Rumpel in North Carolina. According to the NTSB report, at 1:28 p.m., the 69-year-old pilot stopped responding at around 26,000 ft after controllers instructed the aircraft to stop its climb at 33,000 ft. “At 1328, the controller amended the previous altitude clearance, instructing the pilot to stop the climb at 33,000 ft for crossing air traffic. The pilot did not respond.” – (NTSB Report, Page 4) After losing contact with the Cessna, a loud sonic boom was then heard in the DMV area as F-16 jets were scrambled from Joint Base Andrews to intercept the plane, as reported by the Washington Post. The Office of the Secretary of Defense stated that F-16s were “authorized to travel at supersonic speeds” to intercept the unresponsive Cessna and that during the incident, they utilized flares to “draw attention from the pilot.” The report continues and states that the USAF fighters intercepted the unresponsive aircraft and observed no cabin oxygen mask deployed, and one person was slumped over in the cockpit. The plane then entered a rapid, spiraling descent and crashed into the mountainous terrain around 3:30 p.m. “The flight path showed little deviation in track angle or altitude until 1522, when the airplane entered a rapidly descending right spiral descent into terrain.” – (NTSB Report, Page 5) Search and rescue operations with the Virginia State Police located the wreckage around 8 p.m. on Sunday, June 4, 2023.