US jet pilot: ‘I’m sorry I destroyed your home’

Both crew members ejected safely from the aircraft before it crashed into the buildings in Virginia Beach, and one pilot was found still strapped into his ejection seat.

One resident of the apartment complex is still in hospital with minor injuries, but is said to be in “good condition”.

“Everyone has been accounted for” at the Mayfair Mews complex in Virginia Beach, Virginia Beach Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Tim Riley said.

Four people were taken to a hospital for treatment, while overall seven people were injured. Rescue crews had searched into the night for residents in the collapsed buildings.

In a statement from the Pentagon, Navy Captain Mark Weisgerber said the F/A-18D jet had “suffered a catastrophic mechanical malfunction” during a training flight.

Thick black clouds of smoke billowed into the air as fire reduced the apartment buildings to a blackened shell. The Mayfair Mews complex was less than two miles from Naval Air Station Oceana, where the F-18D was based.

The largest Navy air facility on the East Coast., Oceana prepares Navy and Marine aviators and weapons officers for duty. About 250 aircraft are currently stationed at the base.

There are 37 tactical squadrons of F-18s operating from bases worldwide and from 10 aircraft carriers. The Navy’s precision air team, the Blue Angels, flies the F-18.

Admiral John Harvey Jr, commander of the US Fleet Forces, praised the “heroic response” of those at the complex and emergency personnel who took care of the air crew and others at the scene.

Witness Kelly McQuaid, who lives near the apartment complex, said the jet was on fire before it crashed.

“It almost looked like the nose was pointed up,” she said, “like he was trying to pull back up.”

McQuaid said she saw one of the pilots as he was brought out on a stretcher. “He actually looked pretty well,” she said. You could tell he was pretty dazed, and there were scratches on his face.”

She said people closer to the scene told her that the pilot apologized for crashing the plane into the building as he was being helped.

Vicki Hoffman, who lives in a condo next door to the Mews, said one pilot landed on her neighbor’s patio.

“She said she was trying to get his head gear off and said the response was very quick,” she said. “He was conscious.”

The distinctive, twin-finned tail section of the F/A-18D landed in the courtyard of the complex of two-story brick buildings.

Dozens of firefighters and emergency workers converged on the scene, covering the apartment complex with foam.