VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY/AP) – Authorities in Virginia Beach say they consider themselves fortunate after a Navy Jet slammed into an apartment complex.
Witnesses say the plane dumped fuel before the crash after an apparent malfunction.
According to the Virginia Beach Fire Dept. Battalion Chief Tim Riley, they have no reports of missing people. At one point, investigators believed three people were unaccounted for. Riley says the three missing people turned out to be misinformation and the apartment had been vacant before the crash.
Seven people were injured, including the pilot and co-pilot, who ejected.
Riley said early Saturday morning that crews had done an exhaustive search of about 95 percent of the apartment complex. He said crews have been through every building in the Mayfair Mews Apartments and no victims have been found.
Crews searched through the rubble after an F/A-18D jet crashed into an apartment complex in Virginia Beach Friday afternoon.
The crash happened just after noon when the aircraft suffered “ catastrophic mechanical malfunction ” shortly after takeoff, according to Captain Mark Weisgerber, Deputy Commander for the Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic. Both pilots were forced to eject from the jet, which then crashed into the Mayfair Mews Apartments off of Fleming
