Two hero pilots have been praised for preventing scores of potential deaths by dumping plane fuel as their doomed F-18 Navy fighter jet plummeted to the ground in Virginia Beach, Virginia – decisive action that authorities saved the craft from sparking a ‘massive, massive fireball’.
Although the plane crashed into an apartment building, ripping the roofs off condos, town houses, and a retirement community, the two crew members safely ejected from the craft. There are no known deaths – but fears remain over three elderly people who are unaccounted for.
Five civilians, as well as the two pilots, who were a student and an instructor, were taken to hospital to be treated, but their injuries were not serious and all but one, a pilot, had been released by Friday evening.
Rescuers continued to search the wreckage of the Mayfair Mews apartment complex for victims on Friday night; the whereabouts of three residents who live in the block are unknown, Reuters reported.
The terrifying footage and photographs from this afternoon painted a different picture, showing smoke rising from numerous homes and the wreckage of the fuselage laying smoldering on the ground.
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Smoldering: The burning fuselage of an F/A-18 Hornet lies smoldering after crashing into a residential building in Virginia Beach
Live video from WAVY-TV showed dozens of police cars, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles filling the densely populated neighborhood where the plane crashed. Yellow fire hoses snaked through side streets as fire crews poured water on the charred rooftops of brick apartment houses.
Three buildings were destroyed, and two more had significant damage, Virginia Beach fire department spokesman Tim Riley told WVEC-TV.
The fire had been put out, and now crews were going through the buildings to search for anyone who may have been inside, an official told the Associated Press.
Dr. Thomas Thames of Sentara Norfolk General Hospital told WAVY-TV that six people were brought to the hospital, including the two pilots. Two people were treated for smoke inhalation, one fainted at the scene and the other person was a police officer hurt at the scene, he said.
The jet, confirmed to be a Delta two-seat model, crashed at the Mayfield Mews apartment complex, about a mile from the Atlantic Ocean and Virginia Beach. It had ‘suffered a catastrophic mechanical malfunction’ during a training flight, Navy Captain Mark Weisgerber said from the Pentagon.
The Navy said in a news release that the jet was an F/A-18D assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 106 based at Naval Air Station Ocean. It added that the jet crashed shortly after takeoff at a site near the base at about 12:05 p.m.
Witness Zack Zapatero told that the jet crashed into a building where many senior citizens live. ‘There’s these large fire balls coming up,’ he said. There were also reports of buildings collapsing.
Bruce Nedelka, the Virginia Beach EMS division chief, said that it seemed like the pilots were dumping the jet’s fuel prior to the crash.
That action likely prevented a massive fireball upon impact, he said. ‘He mitigated what could have been an absolute massive, massive fireball. With all of that jet fuel dumped, it was much less than what it could have been.’
George Pilkington also witnessed the disaster, and told the timeline of events, describing a few large explosions after the initial crash. He said: ‘It was emptying out fuel and the tail end was down. They (the crew members) must have ejected before they came down.’
Mr Pilkington also said the engine sounded like it was ‘straining and stressing’.
Overhead helicopter video from WAVY-TV showed fire crews in the apartment complex with large ladders spraying water on multiple smoking buildings, one of which has part of its roof torn off.
Robert Matthias, assistant to Virginia Beach’s city manager, told The Associated Press crews are at the scene of an apartment complex where the jet crashed in what he described as a courtyard. ‘So far, they haven’t found any casualties,’ Mr Matthias said.
