4/6/12 Navy F/A-18 crashes in Virginia

[Blue_Dolphin308]

The apartment complex houses senior citizens.

 

[Blue_Dolphin308]

5 buildings hit. 20 apartments burned out.. no one reported missing. new conference soon

 

[Peliman]

I heard on cnn tv that they were practicing landings to mimic landing on aircraft carriers. Dunno if that has been confirmed tho.

Hmm, I used to help train Marine pilots to land and take off landings and take offs on aircraft carriers on land based short airfield runways off of Cherry point.

We would catapult jets into takeoff on a short runway. If there happened to be a catapult malfunction or the pilot didn't hit afterburners at the right times they could have ended up in the bay. Not that I've ever seen that happen but when they returned they were directed to another short runway so they could be caught and landed. Thanks for that info...

 

[octobermoon]

Peliman is it "normal" to train those kind of things (airplane term?) in or near a populated area like this? I am just not sure the report on cnn tv is correct.

 

[Peliman]

Peliman is it "normal" to train those kind of things (airplane term?) in or near a populated area like this? I am just not sure the report on cnn tv is correct.

Well it's not uncommon for military to train in or near cities but I'm unaware of the type of airfield I described or it's location in Virginia. I'm a bit uncertain right now because where I described isn't real far from Virginia. (Jet Wise)

I'm curious how this will be described in the future.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I want to say 12:28, Bette, but can't recall the source...

Just heard on CNN or HLN (I switch up and down the remote) that the flight was scheduled for take-off at 12:05 and that the crash occurred shortly thereafter.

 

[Paul]

I put a red dot to show the crash site. You can see it's almost in line with the runways. The location is Fleming Circle, Virginia Beach, VA.

Most of the development in that area happened many years after the air base was built.

 

[Dewey2Me1MoThyme]

I called my friend as soon as I heard the news, he was working 6 doors down from the building that was struck. I was so glad to hear his voice on the phone. He has taken one elderly lady in to live with his family until her own family can get there and make arrangements for her.

 

[octobermoon]

I put a red dot to show the crash site. You can see it's almost in line with the runways. The location is Fleming Circle, Virginia Beach, VA.

Most of the development in that area happened many years after the air base was built.

Thank you for the map. Man that looks close, I wonder how many seconds they were airborne?

 

[mysteriew]

I called my friend as soon as I heard the news, he was working 6 doors down from the building that was struck. I was so glad to hear his voice on the phone. He has taken one elderly lady in to live with his family until her own family can get there and make arrangements for her.

Does he know if there are any missing people?

I think they will find a fatality or two here still. By now they know which apartments were hit and the residents should be accounted for, or they should know if someone isn't accounted for. They are saying "so far" no fatalities, but they aren't saying whether or not they have anyone missing. And they most likely wouldn't announce fatalities until family was notified.

That jet fuel would have burned too hot for firefighters to get in til the fire was knocked down.

 

[Juno]

I live a few miles from the scene....crazy is all I can say and a total miracle if no one lost their life, so far that miracle has happened!!!

 

[Dewey2Me1MoThyme]

Does he know if there are any missing people?

I think they will find a fatality or two here still. By now they know which apartments were hit and the residents should be accounted for, or they should know if someone isn't accounted for. They are saying "so far" no fatalities, but they aren't saying whether or not they have anyone missing. And they most likely wouldn't announce fatalities until family was notified.

That jet fuel would have burned too hot for firefighters to get in til the fire was knocked down.

He called me about an hour or so ago and said last he heard there were 5 injured, most of the people living there were out shopping or elsewhere for the holiday w/e. I'll let you know if I hear more from him.

 

[mysteriew]

I live a few miles from the scene....crazy is all I can say and a total miracle if no one lost their life, so far that miracle has happened!!!

Did you hear the big boom?

 

[octobermoon]

He called me about an hour or so ago and said last he heard there were 5 injured, most of the people living there were out shopping or elsewhere for the holiday w/e. I'll let you know if I hear more from him.

Thank you. I was hoping lots were out with family for Good Friday.

 

[Paul]

The latest news is that the 3 missing people have been located and are ok. So it seems to be that no one was killed or even seriously injured, which is a miracle!

This article has a good photo that shows how the jet went through the corners of 2 adjoining buildings and then ended up in the courtyard.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-jet-crash-20120408,0,3194075.story

 

[mysteriew]

A 12-ton Navy jet loaded with tons of diesel fuel crashes in a spectacular fireball into a big apartment complex, scattering plane parts and wiping out some 40 units. How is it that everyone survived?

The mayor of Virginia Beach could only call it a "Good Friday miracle" and pilots marveled at how a failed training flight that engulfed buildings in flames managed to crash without killing anyone. The student pilot, his instructor and five on the ground were hurt, but all were out of the hospital by Saturday.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...YuoA_A?docId=1b46b52566a544d3bbd1f7049fad9137