• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

F-18 crashes into apartment complex

Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

I do military contract analysis, and you have no clue what you are talking about.

As far as this crash, Oceana Naval Air station has been in VB for many years, when all this land was farm land. The city of Virginia Beach has allowed way too much development to grow up around this military base. Something like this crash was bound to happen and unfortunately with the risk of loss of life. I hope that somehow people made it out alive, but I don't know how that is possible.

OMG relax. It was a response to someone else in a separate thread before the threads merged. It was to make light of the situation. Get off your pedestal.
 
One thing that concerns me, of all the articles I've read on this so far, there is absolutely no mention of the status of any of the apartment residents.

I hope that my hunch is wrong, but they have cordoned off the area to hold back spectators and the news media, they say to bring in the search and rescue people to look for survivors, but they have brought in hundreds of fire, rescue and police so it may not look good. One thing is that hopefully, most people were at work because they said there were very few cars in the parking lot of that apartment complex.
 
I hope that my hunch is wrong, but they have cordoned off the area to hold back spectators and the news media, they say to bring in the search and rescue people to look for survivors, but they have brought in hundreds of fire, rescue and police so it may not look good. One thing is that hopefully, most people were at work because they said there were very few cars in the parking lot of that apartment complex.

I read one account saying that one of the buildings (7 according to the article) that was heavily damaged housed a meaningful number of elderly. pure speculation however.
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

I mean I first sent her a text because I assumed her mother would call her first, but she never responded so I got worried and started calling.

Right before the earthquake happened, one of my coworkers had just sneaked out to pick up some things at the local autoparts store. We evacuated the building and held muster. My supervisor kept looking for him. Since he is a smoker, I suggested that he was merely taking a smoke break when the earthquake occurred. We were outside the building for about a half hour before they told us to go back in. Of course, we hung back because we remembered what officials told employees who worked in the World Trade Center, to go back because the other tower was safe. It was then that my coworker drives up, thinking we were having a fire drill. I admonished him on pulling another stunt like he did and told him he better CYA with management.
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

OMG relax. It was a response to someone else in a separate thread before the threads merged. It was to make light of the situation. Get off your pedestal.

You're forgiven, but it's just the impact right now. Though I was working from home today, I am still reeling from this one. I can remember 911 just like it just happened and it shakes me up because it has occurred in the general area that I call home.
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

OMG, this thread is the first I've heard of this. What a tragedy. Am going to turn on the news now.
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

CNN reporting 9 injuries, no deaths so far. However, they are saying they have only gone through 2 of the 5 buildings damaged so far...
 
Last edited:
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

VIRGINIA BEACH

Two pilots ejected from a Navy F/A-18D Hornet this afternoon shortly before the plane apparently slammed into the Mayfair Mews apartment complex on Fleming Circle at Birdneck Road. As of late Friday afternoon, no fatalities had been reported.

Fire Chief Steven Cover said rescue crews had entered every building in the apartment complex for primary searches and planned a second search. No fatalities had been found as of about 5:15 p.m., but there were still residents of the affected apartments crews were trying to locate.

Battalion Chief Tim Riley, a department spokesman, said about 5:30 p.m. that all but six apartments had been searched.

The fire set off by the crash affected about 40 apartment units and took about an hour to bring under control, the chief said.

Navy jet slams into Virginia Beach apartments | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

I heard on the news that there are several dozen people missing.
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

If there is any doubt as to the damage a single plane can do to a building... let that be put to rest today. This was an F-18. Imagine a ****ing Boeing hitting the same location.
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

I checked the news this morning and now officials say that all apartments have been entered, but 3 people remain unaccounted. I can only hope that these 3 are away with relatives for Easter. With such a catastrophic crash and so far, it appears with no loss of life, it is truly a miracle because that area has been built up so much over the years.
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

It would be a miracle is not one person was killed in this accident.

Our air traffic of civilian and military is still very safe in this country. By comparison by 2009 numbers there were 93 vehicle accident deaths a day.
Considering the volume of air traffic it really is amazing of the safety record of air travel.
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

I checked the news this morning and now officials say that all apartments have been entered, but 3 people remain unaccounted. I can only hope that these 3 are away with relatives for Easter. With such a catastrophic crash and so far, it appears with no loss of life, it is truly a miracle because that area has been built up so much over the years.

Yeah well they are a flying fuel tank.
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

Yeah well they are a flying fuel tank.

I once thought of taking flying lessons, read every book and magazine about flying, and was entralled by 3 coworkers who piloted small planes. Then one Saturday, a coworker took me up in my first ride in a Cessna 150. I discovered that it wasn't at all like driving a car. When he put the plane into a nose dive and went from 0 g's to positive g's and back, all of a sudden, reality sunk in when I was strapped in and helpless, I knew what a pilot felt before he dies, knowing full well the plane is about to crash and he can do nothing. My apirations about flying were over that day, to the relief of my mother. The other pilots in the shop just couldn't understand why Bob did that to me. Well, Bob tested me to find out if I was really ready for piloting or just a dreamer. I will continue to dream while being on Terra Firma. Flying is not for everyone, though I have been involved with repairing aircraft instruments and electronic systems (avionics) for aircraft and now buying them for many years, I don't want to fly one, though.
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

It would be a miracle is not one person was killed in this accident.

Our air traffic of civilian and military is still very safe in this country. By comparison by 2009 numbers there were 93 vehicle accident deaths a day.
Considering the volume of air traffic it really is amazing of the safety record of air travel.


Those jet pilots are astounding at what they can do with an aircraft. Those guys at Oceana take off from there and go to a nearby field, Fentress Air Field to practice landing on air craft carriers. Now, that's some edge of your knuckles flying. That area had a crash in 1986 where a young pregnant mother was driving by the air field when an A-6 crashed into her car, killing her. Then there was the crash of another A-6 in the middle 70's where 2 Navy pilots steered the aircraft away from populated areas and crashed the plane into a farm field, never getting a chance to eject, and miraculously no fire. That happened to a friend of mine, who saw the plane crash when he was in his work truck going to a job site.
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

I once thought of taking flying lessons, read every book and magazine about flying, and was entralled by 3 coworkers who piloted small planes. Then one Saturday, a coworker took me up in my first ride in a Cessna 150. I discovered that it wasn't at all like driving a car. When he put the plane into a nose dive and went from 0 g's to positive g's and back, all of a sudden, reality sunk in when I was strapped in and helpless, I knew what a pilot felt before he dies, knowing full well the plane is about to crash and he can do nothing. My apirations about flying were over that day, to the relief of my mother. The other pilots in the shop just couldn't understand why Bob did that to me. Well, Bob tested me to find out if I was really ready for piloting or just a dreamer. I will continue to dream while being on Terra Firma. Flying is not for everyone, though I have been involved with repairing aircraft instruments and electronic systems (avionics) for aircraft and now buying them for many years, I don't want to fly one, though.

But the big difference is that he had his hands on the controls. Just sitting there as a passenger , one is helpless. If you have your hands on the control it is a different feeling.

I have ridden motorcycles for over 40 yrs and love taking curves with the pegs dragging. But it scares the crap out of me to ride behind someone else because I don't have my hands on the controls.
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

If you ever get in another jam like that, remember to text your loved ones. Text messages get through when voice messages won't.

And HAM radio works when cell phones don't! People don't realize, in a natural disaster, its not their Iphones that are worth a damn. It's the HAM radio operators, turned emergency coordinators, that help out. Cell phones only work in the best of times, HAM radio works ALL THE TIME!

Long live HAM radio!!!
 
Last edited:
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

But the big difference is that he had his hands on the controls. Just sitting there as a passenger , one is helpless. If you have your hands on the control it is a different feeling.

I have ridden motorcycles for over 40 yrs and love taking curves with the pegs dragging. But it scares the crap out of me to ride behind someone else because I don't have my hands on the controls.

I agree, but what I was getting at was if I were the pilot of a plane and all the controls were gone, that is what I would feel as the plane went into a death spiral.

Here's some more info about the crash. It appears that no bodies have been found in the apartment complex, but they are still looking for 3 people that authorities believe have gone to visit relatives for Easter.

Navy jet slams into Virginia Beach apartments | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

And HAM radio works when cell phones don't! People don't realize, in a natural disaster, its not their Iphones that are worth a damn. It's the HAM radio operators, turned emergency coordinators, that help out. Cell phones only work in the best of times, HAM radio works ALL THE TIME!

Long live HAM radio!!!

Yeah, but ham radio seems to be disappearing with the advent of weak powered line of sight cell phones. Ham started going away with the demise of Morse Code and it was no longer a prerequisite to be able to tap out and read so many lines of code. I will agree with you, though that when a truly catastrophic natural disaster hits, people will fall back on ham radios because that will be the only way to get out. Of course there are satellite cell phones these days as well, but they are on the pricey side. Then again so is the ham radio hobby.
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

IRGINIA BEACH

Miracle was the word Mayor Will Sessoms and Adm. John Harvey chose to describe what happened after a Navy F/A-18D Hornet slammed into the Mayfair Mews apartment complex on Friday.

The mayor and the admiral spoke today at a press conference near the site of the accident. Both marveled at the fact that no fatalities have been reported in the crash that left a crater in the apartment complex.

"I stand in awe," Harvey, the Fleet Forces commander, said.

The Navy is transitioning into an investigation of the crash and will examine every part of the plane, he said. Flight data has not been recovered yet.

Officials: 'Miracle' no one found dead after jet crash | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com

Everyone has been accounted for that was originally missing. This is truly a miracle.
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

I once thought of taking flying lessons, read every book and magazine about flying, and was entralled by 3 coworkers who piloted small planes. Then one Saturday, a coworker took me up in my first ride in a Cessna 150. I discovered that it wasn't at all like driving a car. When he put the plane into a nose dive and went from 0 g's to positive g's and back, all of a sudden, reality sunk in when I was strapped in and helpless, I knew what a pilot felt before he dies, knowing full well the plane is about to crash and he can do nothing. My apirations about flying were over that day, to the relief of my mother. The other pilots in the shop just couldn't understand why Bob did that to me. Well, Bob tested me to find out if I was really ready for piloting or just a dreamer. I will continue to dream while being on Terra Firma. Flying is not for everyone, though I have been involved with repairing aircraft instruments and electronic systems (avionics) for aircraft and now buying them for many years, I don't want to fly one, though.

That guy did you an incredible disservice. Flying is not dangerous, but he gave you the idea that it is. Bob didn't test anything, he sabotaged an incredibly enjoyable hobby or even career for you. Punch him in the face next time you see him.
 
Re: U.S. Navy jet crashes in Virginia; 2 pilots believed to have ejected

one thing I would like to know is how much control they had of the plane before they ejected because if they ejected whilst it was still possible to try and get it out of harms way then they failed to do their job.
 
Back
Top Bottom