2012 Virginia Beach F/A-18 crash
United States Navy McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18D Hornet · Dual engine failure on take-off
From Oceana Naval Air Station (NTU) to an unrecorded destination
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- Occupants
- 2
- Survivors
- 2
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 7 · 5 on the ground
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18D Hornet
- Aircraft type
- McDonnell Douglas F A-18D HORNET
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- 163452/AD-410
- Operator
- United States Navy
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Route
- From Oceana Naval Air Station (NTU)To not recorded
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft power plant
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On April 6, 2012, a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18D Hornet jet fighter of the United States Navy crashed into an apartment complex in Virginia Beach, Virginia, after suffering a dual engine failure shortly after take-off on a training flight. The building involved was extensively damaged, but there were no fatalities in the accident.
Accident
At 12:05 p.m. the twin engined Hornet launched from runway 05R at Naval Air Station Oceana on a heading of 053 degrees, conducting a scheduled training exercise. Within seconds of becoming airborne the right engine experienced a failure. The crew immediately selected maximum thrust on the left engine, but it too failed.
Losing altitude, the crew then began dumping fuel to lighten the stricken aircraft and reduce the risk of fire. When the Hornet reached 50 ft altitude above ground level (agl) in a nose high attitude, the pilots ejected. One eyewitness, a former Navy SEAL, spoke with Navy Times. He said, "the pilots ejected at the last possible second in an apparent effort to make sure that the plane would not crash into a nearby school".
The F/A-18 plowed into the Mayfair Mews apartment complex that houses about 100 residents, located less than 3 mi from the departure end of the runway. Total flight time was 70 seconds.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
According to Navy investigators the cause of the incident was the failure of both F404-GE-402 engines. A leak caused fuel to enter the right engine's intake, starting a fire. The crew shut down that engine according to proper procedure. As the Pilot in command increased thrust on the left engine it too failed due to an unrelated concern, when its afterburner didn't light. According to Rear Adm. Ted Branch "We have never had this kind of unrelated dual engine mishap in the F-18, it's the first time it's ever happened with this aircraft."
Text from the Wikipedia article “2012 Virginia Beach F/A-18 crash” (revision 1358980626, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 2012 Virginia Beach F/A-18 crash
- Revision
- 1358980626 · 2026-06-12 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q17616278
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "2012 Virginia Beach F/A-18 crash" (page 45684657, revision 1358980626)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: total_fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: ground fatalities
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.