MORRISVILLE, N.C. (AP) - A Navy F-18 fighter jet on a training mission caught fire on the runway of the Raleigh-Durham airport during takeoff Friday, but the pilot ejected, authorities said. The burning plane continued rolling before coming to a stop 250 feet from a passenger terminal.
| "Now arriving at Gate 10 ..." |
The pilot, Lt. Wesley Baumgartner, was hospitalized in good condition, said Cmdr. Lydia Robertson of the Naval Air Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet of Norfolk, Va. He was the only one on board; no one on the ground was injured.
Teresa Damiano, a spokeswoman for the airport, said the plane had stopped to refuel. She said the pilot described his plane as swerving and bursting into flames as it headed toward a takeoff runway. The pilot ejected before the plane left the ground - about 1,700 feet down the 7,500-foot runway, she said.
| I'll bet that was not fun. |
News video showed the plane engulfed in flames, with thick black smoke pouring out. Airport fire crews quickly extinguished the fire.
The plane was assigned to the Strike Fighter Squadron 15 - also known as VFA-15, or the Valions - and based at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va., said base spokesman Mike Maus. Maus said the plane was on a routine training mission. The cause of the crash was not immediately known. |