7 hurt when fighter jet hits apartments

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Emergency crews searched the charred remains of a Virginia Beach apartment complex Friday after a fighter jet crashed into it just after takeoff in what Navy officials called a "catastrophic mechanical malfunction."

Two Navy pilots -- a student and an instructor from nearby Naval Air Station Oceana -- ejected just before the jet careened into the complex, demolishing sections of some buildings and engulfing others in flames. The pilots and five other people were taken to a hospital. All except one of the pilots were released by late afternoon.

As of late Friday, no fatalities were reported. Virginia Beach Fire Department Capt. Tim Riley said three residents remained unaccounted for. "We don't know if we have working cell numbers, if they've traveled," Riley said. "We don't know if people are staying with other people."

Some 40 apartment units were damaged or destroyed.

"What I'm praying for, what I'm thinking about now is that we don't find any more victims," Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms told reporters.

The two-seat F/A-18D Hornet 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.

Bruce Nedelka, the Virginia Beach EMS division chief, said witnesses saw fuel being dumped from the jet before it went down, and that fuel was found on buildings and vehicles in the area. The plane not having as much fuel on board "mitigated what could have been an absolute massive, massive fireball and fire," he said.

Naval Air Station Oceana, where the F/A-18D that crashed was assigned, is located in Virginia Beach. Both pilots were from Virginia Beach, Weisgerber said.

He said he did not know how many times the student pilot had been in the air, but that the instructor was "extremely experienced."

Dozens of police cars, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles filled 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. By late afternoon, the fire had been put out.

Residents of the apartment complex described a confusing scene and an apologetic pilot. Colby Smith said his house started shaking, and then the power went out as he saw a red and orange blaze outside his window. He ran outside, where he saw billowing black smoke and then came upon the pilot as he ran to a friend's home.

"I saw the parachute on the house and he was still connected to it, and he was laying on the ground with his face full of blood," Smith told WVEC-TV.

"The pilot said, 'I'm sorry for destroying your house.' " Smith said he and another man helped the pilot onto the street.

Patrick Kavanaugh, who lives in the complex where the jet crashed, opened up his sliding glass door after hearing a loud explosion and saw one of the jet's pilots on the ground with blood on his face. Kavanaugh said the pilot, whom he described as a "young boy," was very upset and apologetic.

"The poor guy was in shock. I checked for broken bones and opened wounds," said Kavanaugh, who spent 23 years in the rescue squad and retired in 1996.

Despite having suffered several heart attacks and open-heart surgery, Kavanaugh said his old rescue skills kicked in as he dragged the pilot around the corner and away from the fire before several other explosions occurred.

The same model of fighter jet crashed in 2008 while returning to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar after a training exercise in a San Diego neighborhood. That crash killed four members of one family and destroyed two homes.

Most flights from Naval Air Station Oceana are training flights, Weisgerber said.

AT A GLANCE: THE F/A-18 HORNET

FUNCTION Multi-role attack and fighter jet

CREW Two

LENGTH 56'

WINGSPAN 40' 5"

COST $29 million per plane (2009)

WEIGHT Maximum 51,900 pounds

SPEED Mach 1.7+

ARMAMENT Vulcan 20mm cannon; mix of air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, night attack capabilities

IN SERVICE 1987

SOURCE: U.S. NAVY