New map shows root of 'ghost plane' that flew over DC before crashing in Virginia

A flight map tracking the precise route of the 'ghost plane' that mysteriously crashed in Virginia and killed all on board has been released by federal investigators.

Authorities also revealed that the cockpit voice recorder has still not been located.

The map, provided by the NTSB, showed the path the private Cessna took before it fell out of the sky over mountainous terrain near Montebello on June 4.

The cause of the crash remains unclear, but the new report provides some details on what happened aboard the small plane in the hours before. 

Air traffic controls received the last known broadcast from the plane minutes after takeoff.

It then flew - some have suggested on auto-pilot - to New York before turning around and flying over Washington, DC. This caused fighter jets to scramble and track the plane before it crashed in Virginia, killing the four people on board.  

A newly detailed flight map of the Cessna plane that crashed in Virginia earlier this month

Adina Azarian (left), her two-year-old daughter (center) and the child's nanny Evadnie Smith (right) were killed when a jet they were travelling in crashed in rural Virginia on Sunday

The plane's pilot, Jeff Hefner, made contact several times with air traffic controllers after the flight departed from the Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Tennessee at about 1.15 pm, June 4

The plane's pilot, Jeff Hefner, made contact several times with air traffic controllers after the flight departed from the Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Tennessee at about 1.15 pm on June 4.

The plane was carrying real estate agent Adina Azarian, her two-year-old daughter, Aria, and the child's live-in nanny, Evadnie Smith. It was heading to the Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York. 

The pilot contacted controllers at least three times as the small plane gained altitude. On each occasion, the controllers gave the plane the go ahead to keep climbing.

At around 1.30pm the controller told the pilot to stop climbing at 33,000 feet. The pilot did not respond, but stopped climbing at 34,000 feet. 

After that no further radio transmissions from the pilot were received, despite attempts from controllers to make contact. 

The aircraft continued on its scheduled path until it suddenly made close to a 180-degree turn at about 2.30pm over the Long Island airport, according to the map. 

The Pentagon previously reported that six F-16 fighter jets were deployed out of Joint Base Andrews after the plane veered into restricted space around the capital as it headed back toward Virginia.

'The pilot was unresponsive to several radio transmissions, intercept flight maneuvers, and flare deployments,' according to the report. 

Despite some sources saying the fighter jets had witnessed the pilot passed out. Investigators, however, made no mention of that detail in the recent report.

The report said the plane hardly deviated in altitude until just prior to 3.30pm, when the plane suddenly 'entered a rapidly descending right spiral descent into terrain.'

Minutes later, the plane crashed into the mountainous region.

Around 3.20pm, seeing the plane head towards the capital at 34,000ft, the military was authorized to scramble F-16 fighter jets to make contact with the plane.

Residents in three states reported hearing a sonic boom as the jets traveled at supersonic speeds to reach the jet.

Adina Azarian and her two-year-old daughter died in the plane crash as investigators said it was likely on auto-pilot when it ran out of fuel

John Rumpel (left) owned the Cessna aircraft that crashed and adopted Azarian with his wife Barbara (right) when she was 40. Rumpel has said it was Hefner's responsibility to maintain the plane

Investigators say they believe based on the evidence and a review of the crash site, the plane plummeted at 'high velocity' and a 'near vertical descent.'

The passengers were understood to have been returning to the Hamptons after visiting Azarian's parents, Trump donors John and Barbara Rumpel, in North Carolina.

'My family is gone, my daughter and granddaughter,' Barbara Rumpel wrote of the casualties soon after the disaster.

'It descended at 20,000 feet a minute, and nobody could survive a crash from that speed,' John Rumpel later told media outlets. 

Investigators say they believe based on the evidence and a review of the crash site, the plane plummeted at 'high velocity' and a 'near vertical descent.'

'The cockpit was destroyed in the impact,' said the report, adding that fragments of both wings and both of the plane's engines were found scattered nearby.

The cockpit voice recording still hasn't been recovered despite recent maintenance on the plane, the records of which showed that one had been installed as of May 2023.

A full crash site report isn't expected to be completed for up to a year.