Plane That Was Carrying GOP Backer’s Family Was Doomed Minutes After Takeoff, Federal Officials Say

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 included 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 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.

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