Associated Press
In this image made from video and provided by WVEC-TV, smoke billows near an apartment complex where a Navy jet crashed in Virginia Beach, Va., Friday, April 6, 2012. The F/A-18 Hornet crashed into the apartment building, officials said, and the two-member crew ejected safely. There were no immediate reports of injuries on the ground.
Monday, July 2, 2012 | 11 a.m.
The Navy says investigators determined that a rare dual-engine malfunction caused one of its jets to lose thrust and crash into a Virginia Beach apartment complex in April.
The F/A-18D Hornet crashed about 70 seconds after taking off from Naval Air Station Oceana. No one was killed, but the impact or fire from the crash destroyed 27 apartments and injured seven.
The commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic, Rear Adm. Ted Branch, released details of the investigation during a news conference at Naval Air Station Oceana on Monday.
Branch says the jet's two-man crew ejected at the last second possible to survive, 50 feet above the ground.
The investigation says no disciplinary action against the pilots is warranted.
