A small plane crashed in southwestern Virginia near Washington DC, the capital of the United States, on Sunday, according to local authorities.

A Cessna Citation plane crashed into a “mountainous, sparsely populated area” in Virginia around 3 p.m. local time (7 p.m. GMT), according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The plane was destined for MacArthur Airport on Long Island, New York, and departed from Elizabethton, Tennessee, in the southern part of the country, the FAA said. causes of the crash. accident.

The Department of Security of the city of Washington, where both the residence of the US president and the Congress are located, has informed its residents that there is no active threat.

“We are aware of reports from communities in the capital who heard a loud noise this afternoon,” the agency said on its Twitter account.

For now, there is no information on how many people were on board the plane or what condition they are in. The Cessna Citation aircraft are business jets with a capacity of up to 12 passengers, according to the company’s website.

Authorities deployed military aircraft, one of which caused a boom that was heard in the region.