Plane crashes in Virginia mountains after military scrambles jets after it

UPDATE: NORAD told CNN reporters that the pilot was unconscious and that there were four people on board.

Reuters is reporting that a Cessna Citation has crashed in the Virginia mountains after flying over the restricted Washington, D.C. airspace. Residents in the DC, Virginia and Maryland metro areas heard a sonic boom, which the DOD later said was the sound of F-16 jets being scrambled to the smaller jet.

The plane was observed flying to New York, making a U-turn, and then flying over Washington. It continued flying over Virginia, made a slight loop and then disappeared from radar. Authorities later reported that it crashed in the mountains of southwest Virginia.

A U.S. official confirmed that the military planes were not involved in the crash of the plane.

"A source familiar with the matter said the Cessna was believed to be on autopilot and did not respond to authorities' efforts to make contact with it," said Reuters.