VIRGINIA BEACH, va. — A fighter jet that malfunctioned just after takeoff hurtled into a Virginia Beach apartment complex Friday in a spectacular crash that sent flames and black smoke billowing from the rubble.
The two pilots managed to eject just before impact, suffering minor injuries along with five others on the ground. Several residents described hearing a loud explosion and looking out their windows to see the red and orange blaze. In the confusion that followed, two men helped one of the bloodied pilots from the two-seat F/A-18 Hornet move to safety.
“Oh, my God, I heard three really loud explosions, then the black smoke went up high in the sky,” said 71-year-old Felissa Ezell, who lives in a townhouse near the crash site.
A Navy official said the jet might have crashed due to a “catastrophic mechanical malfunction.” Capt. Mark Weisgerber said at a news conference that an initial investigation indicates that the cause of the crash was mechanical in nature, due to reports from people on the ground about a fuel spill.
By evening, emergency crews were searching through the charred remains of the complex, where about 40 apartment units were damaged or destroyed. No fatalities had been reported.
Seven people, including the pilots from nearby Naval Air Station Oceana, were taken to a hospital. All except one of the pilots were released by late afternoon.
Virginia Beach Fire Department Capt. Tim Riley said more than two dozen residents remained unaccounted for, although all but the six most damaged apartments had been searched.
“What I’m praying for, what I’m thinking about now is that we don’t find any more victims,” said Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms.
The plane had dumped loads of fuel before crashing, though it wasn’t clear whether that was because of a malfunction or an intentional maneuver by the pilots, said Capt. Mark Weisgerber with U.S. Fleet Forces Command. The jet went down less than 10 miles from Oceana.
The plane not having as much fuel on board “mitigated what could have been an absolute massive, massive fireball and fire,” said Bruce Nedelka, the Virginia Beach EMS division chief. “With all of that jet fuel dumped, it was much less than what it could have been.”
The crash happened in the Hampton Roads area, which has a large concentration of military bases, including Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval base in the world. Naval Air Station Oceana, where the F/A-18D that crashed was assigned, is in Virginia Beach.
Both the pilots were from Virginia Beach, Weisgerber said.
The pilots included a student and an instructor. Weisgerber said he did not know how many times the student pilot had been in the air, but that the instructor was “extremely experienced.”
McClatchy Newspapers contributed to this report.
