Sonic Boom Shakes D.C. After Fighter Jets Scramble to Intercept Unresponsive Small Plane Flying in Restricted Airspace (Videos)

Residents in the Washington D.C. area were startled by a loud boom on Sunday as F-16 fighter jets scrambled to intercept a small plane which had breached restricted airspace. 
 
Attempts to contact the Cessna plane were unsuccessful. The fighter pilots fired flares is an attempt to gain the plane’s attention, but the action failed to get a response. The fighter pilots reported the Cessna pilot appeared to be unconcious and unresponsive to all contact attempts.

The fighter pilots continued to surround the small plane, observing the situation.
 
The Cessna was flying at 34,000 feet, and held that altitude for approximately ten minutes more before beginning a decent before crashing in the mountains near Staunton, Virginia. Ground rescue teams reached the crash around 8:00 pm, discovering all four aboard were dead.

https://youtu.be/5HH4HasNTcQ

https://youtu.be/Rv8k09dvN2w

This video offers a more precise detailing of what happened during the flight. The Cessna reached its destination, but remained airborn, making a left turn and returning back along a parallel flight path before crashing. 

https://youtu.be/Wv8YTzRakjQ

Possible cause: hypoxia 

The theory being discussed in this tragic incident is the Cessna, flying at 34,000 feet, may have lost cabin pressure, and all four persons on board were incapacitated by hypoxia, a lack of oxygen in the brain and body. The aircraft continued on its assigned path until the plane ran out of fuel crashed in the wooded mountains near Staunton, Virginia, after an uncontrolled descent.