Virginia crash: Plane lost contact with air traffic controllers, say FAA

Only minutes into a doomed journey that ended on a remote Virginia mountain, the pilot of a business jet was not responding to air traffic control instructions and the situation was soon reported to a network that includes military, security and law enforcement agencies, according to federal aviation officials.

Despite being out of contact on its ascent Sunday afternoon, the jet that had just taken off from a Tennessee airport continued toward its intended destination on New York's Long Island, then turned to fly back to Virginia where it slammed into a mountain, killing the four people aboard.

Family and friends identified two of the victims as an entrepreneur known in New York real-estate circles and her 2-year-old daughter.

Outside aviation experts speculated the pilot likely lost consciousness from a lack of oxygen inside the jet when it climbed above 10,000 feet (3,048 meters), the altitude that typically requires cabin pressurization.

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