Navy Hornet crash in Virginia Beach
ROS and Hondo send links to the news that an F-18 crashed in Virginia Beach a few hours ago. It’s being reported that the pilots ejected and one went to the hospital while one other person on the ground has been hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
David Schleck of the Virginia Pilot tells MSNBC that several witnesses saw both parachutes descending in the air, with both parachutes being caught in buildings above ground. One of the pilots was reportedly still attached to his parachute, which was entangled with the burning apartment building. Schleck says a local neighborhood child was able to obtain a knife that was reportedly used to free the Navy pilot.
I guess the news is a lot better than it could have been so far.
Category: Breaking News, Navy
I don’t get that bit about the knife. Every aircrewman has a shroud cutter in a special pocket of the flight suit (left leg, IIRC) that’s attached with a long lanyard. We were taught hoe to use it to cut the lines and free ourselves.
Only makes some sense if perhaps he had a broken arm or something like that.
@1 – Take it for what it’s worth, but the news report I saw stated that this pilot was laying on an arm and struggling to get up. Could make sense that an injury prevented him from cutting free.
That’s less than a mile north of my daughter and son-in-law’s apartment complex. Both are fine.
This happend about a mile from my house. Here’s a link to the local news station it has more info.
http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/va_beach/military-plane-crashes-in-virginia-beach
@2: That’s what I was thinking, that he must have been injured and unable to free himself from the lines or get out of his harness, though you CAN do it one-handed. But I wasn’t there, so it’s just speculation on my part.
It’s a damned miracle, however, that no one was killed. A jet full of JP-5 hits an apartment complex and there’s only 6 injured, with one already released? That’s a miracle in my book for sure.
AW1 Tim: One published account indicates the pilot dumped fuel shortly prior to ejecting. If so, that likely mitigated damage greatly – and may have prevented a bunch of deaths.
I grew up right down the street! VA Beach has allowed waaaaaay too much development too damn close to the flightline!!!
Glad everyone’s families are ok. I read one article stating that they waited to eject until they knew they were clear of a school. Also, I was quite shocked to see people running toward the flames instead of away. That gives me a bit of hope for humanity.
I saw at least one report saying that one of the crew members was still strapped in his seat. When they said both had lived, I knew that couldn’t have been right. Well, with the seats I work in in the AF, when the parachute fires, the pilot is separated from the seat at the same time. I am pretty sure the Navy seats would function similarly.
Reports this AM are zero confirmed deaths and all but 3 on ground positively accounted for. Another report indicates all but one of the injured have already been released from the hospital. Not 100% sure, but it looks like this one may well end up in the proverbial “dodged a bullet” category.
Some are calling this a “Good Friday miracle”. If the zero deaths holds, that will IMO be apropos. This could have been incredibly bad.