Posted: 4/6/2012 9:41:56 AM EDT
| An F-18 just went down across the street from my daughter's apt complex. Jeepers! Pray for the folks that were on the ground. The pilots are OK. |
I would have thought people would have had more interest in this. This had some real survival aspects. Final result was zero fatalities (unbelievable). 7 people treated and released. Acquaintances of my wife and myself lost all they had, as they lived in the apartment complex that had turned into a blazing fireball. Fortunately, they were not home when it happened. The pilots ejected and eventually came down in the same apt complex, which indicates they ejected at the absolute last minute. You can see their parachutes in some of the pictures hanging off of the apartment building. The cause is an undetermined catastrophic failure happening at takeoff or really shortly afterwards, as the crash site was maybe a mile and a half from the end of runway 05. They had had no time after take off to gain any altitude or airspeed, and did well to put it down where they did. The smaller footprint of the crash site also indicates they dumped some fuel, and came in almost vertical. The front of the fuselage was unrecognizable. It was a very surreal disaster... having a 40,000 lb F/A 18D Super Hornet crash land in your backyard is spooky. Even spookier, is not having any casualties. This place is very populated. But, I'll bet some folks won't sleep very well for quite a while. Pilots are alive. Both treated, one kept for observation overnight. We will be able to get the real story, which is rare in these circumstances. |
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I heard about this on the radio earlier. As you indicated, the report said the pilots stayed with the jet until the last possible second in an attempt to avoid as many casualties on the ground as possible.
I've never flown a jet, but it sounds like that crew has brass balls. I'm awfully glad to hear that your daughter is okay  Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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http://p.twimg.com/Ap0EmJvCMAAFFWl.jpg I would have thought people would have had more interest in this. This had some real survival aspects. Final result was zero fatalities (unbelievable). 7 people treated and released. Acquaintances of my wife and myself lost all they had, as they lived in the apartment complex that had turned into a blazing fireball. Fortunately, they were not home when it happened. The pilots ejected and eventually came down in the same apt complex, which indicates they ejected at the absolute last minute. You can see their parachutes in some of the pictures hanging off of the apartment building. The cause is an undetermined catastrophic failure happening at takeoff or really shortly afterwards, as the crash site was maybe a mile and a half from the end of runway 05. They had had no time after take off to gain any altitude or airspeed, and did well to put it down where they did. The smaller footprint of the crash site also indicates they dumped some fuel, and came in almost vertical. The front of the fuselage was unrecognizable. It was a very surreal disaster... having a 40,000 lb F/A 18D Super Hornet crash land in your backyard is spooky. Even spookier, is not having any casualties. This place is very populated. But, I'll bet some folks won't sleep very well for quite a while. Pilots are alive. Both treated, one kept for observation overnight. We will be able to get the real story, which is rare in these circumstances. there's a GD thread on it with an ARFCOMMER who lives pretty close as well and some pretty good discussion. It's covered more of the aircraft procedures, etc. with commentary from some of ARFCOM's pilot members than the SHTF aspect of it, but it may be why there's so little traffic on this one. |
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there's a GD thread on it with an ARFCOMMER who lives pretty close as well and some pretty good discussion. It's covered more of the aircraft procedures, etc. with commentary from some of ARFCOM's pilot members than the SHTF aspect of it, but it may be why there's so little traffic on this one. Thanks. I never frequent GD. My first response was to share it with my SF family. Oh well. 
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Quoted:
Quoted:
there's a GD thread on it with an ARFCOMMER who lives pretty close as well and some pretty good discussion. It's covered more of the aircraft procedures, etc. with commentary from some of ARFCOM's pilot members than the SHTF aspect of it, but it may be why there's so little traffic on this one. Thanks. I never frequent GD. My first response was to share it with my SF family. Oh well.
Thanks for sharing. The GD thread was pretty civic, IIRC. I linked this thread there, but its on the last page.
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