[greglepore]

I'm sure the fighter jocks had a pretty good fix on what was going on. Once the plane departed DC airspace it was over the mountains for the most part. Flight Aware data shows it dropping at 30k ft/minute at the end, so it likely ran out of fuel and then lost airspeed and stall/spun in. But yeah, had it been a threat to anyone other actions would have been appropriate.
Also, big crater but no sign of massive fire...