Breaking News: F/A-18 fighter jet crashes

[NcDeuce]

F/A-18 fighter jet crashes on takeoff at Raleigh-Durham airport. Pilot ejects but condition unknown. Details soon.

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[EMAN]

The jet was identified as an F-18 C Strike Fighter Squadron 15, or VFA-15. It was based in Oceana, Va. The pilot ejected and was reported to be in good condition at WakeMed.

[Damian]

MORRISVILLE, N.C. - A Navy F-18 fighter jet crashed and burned on the runway of the Raleigh-Durham airport during takeoff Friday, but the pilot ejected, authorities said.



Mike Moss, a spokesman for the Naval Air Force Atlantic Fleet, said the pilot was being taken to a hospital but did not release the person's name or condition. The pilot was the only person on board.


Witnesses said they saw the pilot eject from the plane and that he was walking around before an ambulance arrived. The plane burned just off the runway and thick black smoke rose from the aircraft.


Moss said the plane was on a training flight.


Airport spokeswoman Teresa Damiano said airspace near the airport was closed but that by 4 p.m. some aircraft were being allowed to arrive and depart.


The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Navy and the National Transportation Safety Board (news - web sites) officials were en route to the scene.


The plane was assigned to the Strike Fighter Squadron 15 — also known as VFA-15, or the Valions — and based at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va., Moss said

[SeanAshi]

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2004/US/South/03/26/plane.crash/story.crash.jpg

[Argyll]

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2004/US/South/03/26/plane.crash/story.crash.jpg

The damage doesn't look that bad from this pic,by which i mean the a/c is pretty intact wich doesn't suggest a hard impact,perhaps some kind of bird ingested into the engines during rotation causing an energy bleed?

[usa320]

reminds me of some footage from a mid-90's airshow...

an F-117A crashed at the end of the runway. The driver hit the silk, and landed in a neighborhood not far away... The pilot wandered around in a daze (the people whos yard he landed in had a video) and then the people gave him water and brought a chair out for him so he could sit and wait for recovery.

[Marmot1]

reminds me of some footage from a mid-90's airshow...

an F-117A crashed at the end of the runway. The driver hit the silk, and landed in a neighborhood not far away... The pilot wandered around in a daze (the people whos yard he landed in had a video) and then the people gave him water and brought a chair out for him so he could sit and wait for recovery.
do you have it??? :lol: can you post it?

[Zmey]

I've seen the video that he described on RealTV. I don't have the video itself, but I can confirm that it indeed exists.


Z.S.