Posted on 03/26/2004 12:19:41 PM PST by jern
Heads up, there has been some kind of explosion at RDU airport in Raleigh, just got a call from someone who works near the airport. Will post more in a second.
Also, mykdsmom and TaxRelief have copies of the list.
I was just out in that area and saw a lot of smoke in the distance and a couple of helicopters hovering over the area. I couldn't see much more than that. But, I just heard a guy on the radio saying he watched the two Hornets taking off in tandem. The caller was a airplane mechanic working on his own plane and had just taken a break to watch the jets depart. The right one took off while the left veered to the left off the runway, bounced a few times, he noticed the landing gear collapsed as it blew by him at an extremely high speed, it bounced another time as it caught fire, the pilot punched out and the plane started doing flips then got airborn and veered to the right toward Terminal A where it finally hit the ground in a huge fireball. He lost track of the pilot and chute as he was concerned that the plane was about to hit the Terminal but I guess from his standpoint he didn't realize that the plane was much further down the runway and the Terminal wasn't in jeopardy.
Also, another caller said he was on 540 and he watched an F-18 landing as it crossed his path in front of him (Angus Barn side of the airport). A minute or two later, the report of the crash was on WPTF. This was most likely the second F-18 returning.
Being any type of pilot is not hazard-free.
A military plane crashed on a runway east of Raleigh-Durham International Airport, catching on fire and sending a huge plume of smoke into the air visible from several miles away.
The jet was identified as an F-18 C Strike Fighter Squadron 15, or VFA-15. It was based in Oceana, Va., and had stopped to refuel during a routine training mission. The pilot ejected and was reported to be in good condition at WakeMed.
RDU spokesperson Theresa Damiano said the jet never left the ground and appeared to swerve out of control as it taxied down the runway.
Damiano said no buildings were hit, but Terminal A was shut down.
Traffic into the airport was reduced from five lanes to one.
The plane crashed on a runway several hundred yards from Terminal A. Emergency personnel worked for nearly an hour to put out the fire, dousing it with foam.
Witness Brad Williams, who was doing construction work in an area of Terminal A, said it appeared that turbulence from another F-18 that took off just seconds earlier may have knocked the jet off the runway.
There were reports of the jet "cartwheeling" down the runway, with skid marks and debris showing the path it took. The pilot ejected before the plane came to rest right-side up, and he was seen walking around while waiting for an ambulance to pick him up.
There were no injuries on the ground.
"Airspace was closed for a small period of time," Damiano said. "But the FAA is allowing some takeoffs and departures on a limited basis. Do not come to RDU if you have no reason to."
You can bet LE up and down the east coast is going to be out in force this weekend.
F/A-18 crashes at takeoff in N.C.; pilot ejects
March 26, 2004
By Steve Hartsoe
Associated Press
MORRISVILLE, N.C. — A military pilot ejected from his F-18 just before it crashed in flames Friday during a failed takeoff from Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Airport spokeswoman Teresa Damiano said the F-18 Hornet crashed on the east side of the airport around 3 p.m. The pilot, who was the only person on board, ejected before the crash, Damiano said, adding that no one on the ground was injured.
The condition of the pilot was not immediately known, but an eyewitness said he saw the pilot walking around after ejecting from the plane.
It was not immediately clear where the aircraft was based. Military public affairs officials at the Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va., where F-18s are based, said they were still gathering details on the incident.
Film taken after the crash showed the plane engulfed in flames just off a runway at the airport, which is in Morrisville, between Raleigh and Durham. Thick black smoke poured from the aircraft.
Damiano later said the fire was under control and that there had been no damage to any airport facilities.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known.
Damiano said the airspace around the airport was closed temporarily after the incident, but that by 4 p.m. the Federal Aviation Administration was allowing some aicraft to arrive and depart on a limited basis. Damiano told passengers using the airport to expect delays.
She said military planes regularly take off and land from the airport.
Eyewitnesses said they saw the pilot eject just before the crash.
Frank Belote was watching from a passenger plane that was waiting to taxi as a pair of F-18s took off.
After the first one took off, “the front of the (second) plane blew up and the pilot immediately ejected,” Belote told News 14 Carolina.
He said the pilot laid on the ground without moving for quite a while, but another witness said he saw the pilot get up and walk around before an ambulance arrived at the scene.
Andy Palahnuck said the plane never got off the ground before it crashed just off the runway.
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