Firefighter says an F-18 fighter jet has crashed in a San Diego residential area.

I hope this doesn't get confirmed. Witness reports that apparently a lady and her two children were in one of the houses.

Yeah I just heard that too, I really hope not

Here is a picture of a VMFAT-101 F-18D for the record:

Originally posted by schrodingers dog
reply to post by RFBurns

 

It is amazing, apparently the pilot didn't eject until he was 200ft above ground.

Yep. Thats the minimum distance a pilot can safely eject and the thrust from the ejection system to put the pilot up high enough and away enough from the crash point so that the parachute will open up completely.

I have seen test track footage out at Holloman AFB of ejection systems tests where they would shoot down the track a seat assembly at a certian speed, then shoot the ejection assembly up and away from the sled, and then when it reached a certian hight above the sled, the ejection seat would fire and out comes the dummy pilot, and then a couple of seconds after that, the pilot and the seat seperate and the parachute opens up just in time to catch the wind and bring the pilot down safely.


Its quite a thing to see!!




Cheers!!!!

Why isnt there any picture close in the wreckage? Like, I want to see the plane burnt.

[edit on 8-12-2008 by unknown known]

reply to post by unknown known
[Why isnt there any picture close in the wreckage? Like, I want to see the plane burnt. It seems a bit odd still]

Possibly because there are bodies intermingled with the wreckage and they don't want to show it.

reply to post by star in a jar


Agreed, here's a video that seemingly shows the aircraft next to the motor home.

Looks pretty clear to me, saw the same video from KTC live on CNN Chile

It looks just like that, just an ugly plane accident

Thats just disgusting to want to see footage of burnt bodies and spout "I wanna see I wanna see!"

If you want to see burt bodies so bad, go sit on the stove and turn up the burners all the way.

How about saying something like "I hope no one on the ground got hurt by this, and if there is, bless them and their families."

No wonder tabloid news has yet to declare bankruptcy or ask for a bailout. People who only want "if it bleeds it leads" kind of news, then its no wonder we dont get the truth from the news media.

The only time your going to see any close up footage is AFTER any victims of this accident are found and put into body bags.

It isnt some movie or blockbuster show were watching here. It is a tragic accident that hopefully no one was killed. But if there are casulties, it isnt going to be presented in some Hollywood fashion.



Cheers!!!!

Originally posted by unknown known
Why isnt there any picture close in the wreckage? Like, I want to see the plane burnt.

Originally posted by RFBurns
Thats just disgusting to want to see footage of burnt bodies and spout "I wanna see I wanna see!"

RFBurns... Plane =/= Bodies.

Read carefully please. Not everything needs to be made into an argument.

I agree with unknown, normally we get images of the crash instantly if indeed it has some human remains that need hiding, keep it hidden. Maybe showing the aircraft will uncover something we are not meant to see.

OR... it is just a genuine 'training accident'.

[edit on 8/12/2008 by SilentShadow]

Fox news reported that eyewitnesses say the tail was on fire.

Has anyone heard anything else on this?

They said there are also reports comming in that say two may have died in this accident.

reply to post by mrsdudara


The news article i first stumbled upon here:

ABC.au | US F-18 fighter jet slams into home

Mentioned this:

A Marine Corps spokesman meanwhile, has confirmed the plane was carrying two crew but their fate was not immediately known.

With this image:


Original Source
Original Larger Image

[edit on 8/12/2008 by SilentShadow]

USMC just confirmed to local media at least two fatalities on the ground.

Presumably this is the woman and kids they mentioned before

Hi All,

Watching the nbc-live footage, they confirm that 2 are dead and that two are missing. The fire chief just said that the other residence is still burning and they are not able to search the debris pile yet.

(sigh) I was really hoping that no one was at home when this happened.

reply to post by sylvrshadow


www.telegraph.co.uk...

Looks like at least two lives have been sadly lost. Praise to the pilot though for his efforts in ensuring the number affected was minimal.

Originally posted by Raist
The guy they interviewed on the news just now said he saw it spiraling out of control “just like in Top Gun”. He also said he seen one of the pilots and he “looked dazed and confused”.

The guy though said it was “definitely an F-15” which only leads me to believe he is not really sure what he saw or that they are not saying the right type of jet crashed.


And now the military base is going there because they are not even sure it is their jet.


Raist

If you aren't familiar with them the F-15 and F-18 are similar at a glance. They're both twin tailed, and almost the same sized. The wing shape is different, and the fuselage is different, but they both are twin engined, twin tailed design.

As for the question about ejecting over populated areas, the pilots are encouraged to do everything they can to miss a populated area, but if they've done everything they can to avoid it, then they'll eject.

The San Diego TV station covering the crash talked to a female helicopter pilot on the ground at her house who reported seeing the FA-18 cycle the landing gear several times.

Her opinion was that the nose gear was not coming down like it should.

Some who were interviewed said the plane was very quiet right before the ejection sequence.
That doesn't really tell us if the engines were dead or simply idling.


One non-fiction book I read, the pilot noted that if possible they tried to point the plane to an unpopulated area, but if you had to get out 'right now' punch out and hope for the best.

You don't have much time at low altitude.
There was a documentary on Wings or History that showed the first F-14 on its first flight.
They lost hydraulic control pressure and the plane started porpoising while on final.
The pilots punched out, the plane nosed over and went in at a steep angle.

Once the plane nosed downward and the pilots ejected, it only took a couple of seconds until the F-14 hit the ground.

It was perhaps at 600'-1000' when the ejection sequence was activated.

My understanding of ejection systems is that are are capable of getting the pilot/pilots safely out at ground level if need be....

The ACES II, is a zero/zero seat. It's capable of getting you out at zero altitude/zero airspeed safely. But at low altitude, as you said in that F-14 video it happens FAST. Anything less than a couple hundred feet and you're in danger of coming down into the fireball or fire.

Originally posted by unknown known
Why isnt there any picture close in the wreckage? Like, I want to see the plane burnt.

[edit on 8-12-2008 by unknown known]

A pretty good picture where you can clearly see parts of the plane:



It's a pretty surreal situation really. I would be surprised if if noone died, but I hope the feared casualties are not confirmed of course. And I hope the pilot is okay. This will not be easy for him :/

That one house there is..gone:




[edit on 8-12-2008 by me_ofef_seraph]

3 confirmed dead now...

...and 1 missing.

anyone know what caused him to eject?