Rare failure led to Virginia Beach jet crash, Navy says VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The fighter jet that crashed into a Virginia Beach apartment complex in April was doomed by malfunctions in both engines, an event so rare that the Navy has never seen it, a top officer said Monday. The catastrophic failure caused the F/A-18D Hornet to crash shortly after takeoff from Naval Air Station Oceana. No one was seriously injured when the jet plowed into the complex, although the crash destroyed or damaged several apartment buildings. The pilot and the weapons systems officer in the two-seat aircraft were not found to be at fault in the accident report released Monday. The Navy did not identify them, and their names have been redacted from the public copy of the report. The Hornet that crashed was built in 1987 and had about 6,500 flight hours of an expected 8,000. It had passed preflight maintenance checks and had flown four times in the previous three days without any special maintenance required. But seconds after takeoff April 6, the right engine failed when a flammable liquid - most likely fuel - was ingested into the compressor and caused the engine to stall. The source of that problem has not been determined. After the right engined failed, the afterburner in the left engine malfunctioned. The most likely cause was a "fuel delivery failure," according to the accident report, but an electrical failure is also a possibility. The problems with the two engines were not related. "We have never had a situation ... like this," said Rear Adm. Ted Branch, commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic. With about 10 seconds to react, the pilot fought for control as the aircraft lost altitude, alarms sounded in the cockpit and a warning blared, "Pull up, pull up." With the aircraft going down and beginning to roll to the right, the two ejected 50 feet above the ground. "They waited until the last possible second," said Capt. Paul Gronemeyer, commodore of Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic. The pilots were not found to be derelict in their duty. The flight was a routine training mission. Seconds after takeoff, the pilot felt a "serious vibration" and the weapons officer felt a series of thumps and bumps on the right side of the airplane, the report said. At first, the weapons officer thought the jet had blown a tire on takeoff. Branch said the F/A-18D remained a reliable aircraft, and officials found no reason to examine the rest of the fleet.