Navy Jet Crash: 3 Still Unaccounted For, Rescue Workers Say

A day after a Navy fighter jet crashed into a Virginia Beach apartment complex, rescue workers on Saturday continued their work to locate three residents that have still been unaccounted for, according to a report by CNN.

Virginia Beach Fire Department Battalion Chief Tim Riley told reporters that while there were no initial reports of fatalities, there are still three residents that are unaccounted for.

Rescue workers said late Friday that they had completed a 95 percent search around the Navy jet crash site, and that if there’s anyone still left in the apartment complex, “chances of survivability would be low.”

While no one has been reported missing following the Navy jet crash on Friday, rescue workers, using a checklist of occupants in the buildings, were able to account for all occupants except for three.

According to reports, the Navy jet was dumping loads of fuel before the two pilots ejected before crashing into a Virginia Beach apartment complex, destroying a portion of the building. It wasn’t clear if the fuel dumping was part of a training exercise, or the result of a malfunction.

The Associated Press reports that, according to Bruce Nedelka, the Virginia Beach EMS division chief, witnesses spotted the Navy jet dumping fuel just before the crash, and small amounts of fuel was found on buildings and vehicles around the crash site.

The Associated Press reports:

“The plane not having as much fuel on board “mitigated what could have been an absolute massive, massive fireball and fire,” Nedelka said. “With all of that jet fuel dumped, it was much less than what it could have been.”