F/A-18 Crash at RDU - 3/26

RDU Plane Crash: An F-18 crashed at RDU around 3:00pm ET. The jet was being
used for Navy training, and lost power during take-off. The pilot ejected
safely and the plane crashed on the runway. No injuries or other damage have
yet been reported. The crash happened at Terminal A. Raleigh-Durham
International Airport is shut down; if you have travel plans, consult your
airline. Traffic is also slow near the airport.

A brief follow-up: It was a USN F/A-18C.

Local newsies haven't reported any further REAL information
about the crash, but almost immediately, they said the pilot
punched out and was fine.

One TV station's TISEO-equipped chopper had some good, steady
tape of the aircraft after-crash fire (which they had a really
hard time extinguishing, even though the airframe didn't
appear to be much damaged by the crash). It looked like the
main gear had collapsed beneath it, (or perhaps it was just
sitting on its tail, with the nose in the air). The flames
appeared under the forward wing roots/intake area - and if I
had to guess, I'd say it was hydraulics fueling the fire, rather
than full fuel tanks.

I was expecting the 20mm to start cooking off at any time - but
it didn't happen. Perhaps the little 'teen jets don't need a
full ammo drum for good weight and balance. The big airbase-style
fire engine kept playing the (foam?) water gun on one side of the
empty cockpit - and the flames would blaze up on the opposite side.
When they switched sides, so did the flames.
This was a much smaller fire than you'd expect from a crash - but
it sure looked hard to knock down.

The telephoto video wasn't good enough to see a tail number or
squadron designator (or maybe its my eyes that aren't what they
used to be....). Sorry.

I'm just glad he got out of it in time ...