F/A-18 crashes into apartments in Virginia
McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 crashed Friday into some apartments near Virginia Beach Virginia sending flames and thick black smoke into the air, a military spokesman and a witness said. At least two people were hurt Friday, a hospital spokeswoman said. The pilot and a person who was on the ground were being treated for injuries, but the nature and extent of those injuries were not immediately clear the spokeswoman said.
Two apartment buildings were on fire, CNN affiliate WTKR reported, citing witnesses. The jet was from Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The crew of the two-seater F/A-18 safely ejected, but their condition wasn’t known, a Navy spokesman said. The plane is from a training squadron, the Navy said. George Pilkington, a witness to the crash, said he saw the plane flying low, with its nose up and tail down, ejecting fuel which struck him as unusual. The engine was straining, he said.
“It came over the top of my truck emptying fuel,” Pilkington said.
“That it didn’t cause more damage to the apartment buildings was a blessing,” he said.
The plane crashed in an area of apartment complexes and homes a half-mile from the waterfront, Pilkington said.
Black smoke and flames rose from the crash site. At least one building was damaged, according to video footage from CNN affiliate WTKR. A charred section of the jet wreckage was on the ground nearby. Fire trucks, ambulances and police cars filled the area as smoke drifted overhead.
Another witness, Zack Zapatero, said the plane crashed into a building occupied by senior citizens. He took photographs of the crash scene. “There’s these large fire balls coming up,” Zapatero said. “I was told there was a bunch of senior citizens that live in that building, which worries me a lot. “Buildings were starting to collapse,” he said of the wreckage scene. “Through the smoke, you could see the end of the plane sitting in the courtyard” of the building, Zapatero said.
