[Johns:] We're standing by for a press conference by the mayor of Virginia Beach and navy officials. We'll go straight to it when it starts, but right now, let's get a little bit more with Rob Waldman who is a decorated former air force fighter pilot. And Rob, as we wait for this news conference in Virginia Beach with the mayor, I'd like to ask you to give me some idea what it's like to fly a jet like this, this two-seater F-18.
[Lt. Col. Rob "waldo" Waldman, Former F-16 Fighter Pilot:] It's intense. And it requires an amazing amount of training. I think what you saw today was a perfect example of how training can be put to use. I mean, you're dealing with multimillion dollar machines, complicated weapons systems, just tough situations to operate in, and when they have that malfunction which will be reviewed and they'll discover the source of that, they'll have to act instantaneously, and the training was put to use. And I think it really save lives, and ultimately, will save money and improve the reputation of the military in the long run.
[Johns:] We've heard so much about the checklist that pilots go through in situations like this. What would be going through your mind if you started seeing a malfunction on the job?
[Waldman:] Well, what happens is before you strap into that plane with the wingman behind you or solo, you've rehearsed it. You've chair flown it. You've in a simulator in a chair going through the systems over and over and over again. Now, in the heat of battle, in the heat of an emergency, you will likely forget something, but the key is when you train with intensity when the emergency happens, you respond, and
[Johns:] All right. Rob?
[Waldman:] Yes, sir?
[Johns:] I'm going to have to jump in. Let me jump in on you right now because the mayor of Virginia Beach is starting his news conference right now. Let's listen.
[Captain Mask Weisgerber, U.n. Navy:] heroic acts. I've gone far to help reduce the impact of today's crash and tragedy. And finally, to make it clear that the navy is offering all resources to the city of Virginia Beach to help it in the aftermath of today's incident. I wanted to give a brief a brief summary of what happened today. Shortly afternoon, we had a training flight. They had two seat F-18 hornet take off from Naval Air Station Oceana. Shortly after takeoff, initial indications are that that aircraft suffered a catastrophic, mechanical malfunction, the specifics of which I don't want to speculate on. However, it resulted in the forced ejection of that air crew. Both of those air crew ejected safely. The front seater was a student pilot. The back seater was an experienced instructor. It resulted in their forced ejection and the loss of the aircraft which impacted over my right shoulder here, and with that, I can take a couple of questions.
[Unidentified Male:] I've heard that a bird may have been sucked into the engine of the aircraft upon takeoff. Did the pilots give any indication of anything like that occurring?
[Weisgerber:] No, sir. This time, we have no indications of a bird. And again, all we know is that there was a mechanical malfunction shortly after takeoff, and that's really all we know at this time.
[Unidentified Female:] Is this a training mission?
[Weisgerber:] Yes. Most of the flying that we do here at Naval Air Station Oceana is directly related to training in preparation for the efforts that we do have in this week.
[Unidentified Male:] There were reports of eyewitnesses that they saw a jet fuel coming from the plane. Was that designed? Did they let go of jet fuel early in order to prevent this apart from being bigger when the plane crashed?
[Weisgerber:] No. The indication of that jet fuel is one of the eyewitness accounts that we heard as well and that's one of those indications that there was a mechanical malfunction that's leading us down that road. Again, that's initial assessment. There will be a full investigation, as always, as there is in any aircraft mishap, and we will very thoroughly determine what happened today.
[Unidentified Male:] How is the crew?
[Weisgerber:] The crew is doing well. They suffered some minor injuries, and the latest report is that they're up and about and both coherent and doing well.
[Unidentified Male:] Are they local?
[Weisgerber:] They do both live here in Virginia Beach.
[Unidentified Male:] Is this the first crash locally involving an FA-18 aircraft?
[Weisgerber:] It's the I'm not fully prepared to answer that. It's the only one in recent history in the local area over land.
[Unidentified Male:] Can you define student pilot? When you say student pilot
[Weisgerber:] The squadron now was involved, the strike fighter squadron 106. They're one of the navy's three fleet replacement squadrons. This is where the navy teaches, our F-18 pilots, essentially, for very first time in the fleet with the representative aircraft. So, their syllabus goes from basic flying to advanced tactics.
[Unidentified Male:] You guys train very much for a scenario like this, and you do it with Virginia Beach first responders quite a bit. You had an exercise easily. Certainly, a lot of that must have come into play today and helped out here. Certainly, in fact, some month and a half ago, we had a full Virginia Beach Fire Department company in service and coordination with our military DOD assets here in the area, and we ran every company through how we would operate in this sort of incident, and obviously, that training has paid off for us. Chief, how far have your firefighters been able to get into the damaged buildings? We made access into every building for a primary search, we call it. We are now making sure that we've mitigated the debris field as best we can, and we're going to do a secondary search operation from there. Obviously, first priority was fire control at some 40 units burning and got that fire under control in roughly an hour. Are you reasonably confident at this point that there are no fatalities in this incident? We have none reported to us that we're aware of at this point? Any people missing? Have any missing persons reports? Certainly, with the number of occupants in this size of a complex, there are people that we're still trying to track down. The fuel, the fire, the wind, what was the biggest challenge to firefighters today? Obviously, fire spread and exposed buildings. Correct. There have been added little complaints that, perhaps, maybe these planes are flying too close to civilian areas. How would you respond to some of the folks that have been concerned about that?
[Weisgerber:] I would not comment on that. Today's focus, really, is to talk about the events of the mishap today. And again, to express our the gratitude of the navy and the continued cooperation between the United States navy and the city of Virginia Beach to keep something like this from happening again in the future.
[Unidentified Male:] Your view on that, because I know you worked a lot with the navy here recently to try to prevent encroachment upon the facility there.
[Mayor Will Sessoms, Virginia Beach:] Right.
[Unidentified Male:] What is your assessment right now of the proximity of all of this population to businesses and residents to the air base?
[Sessoms:] The navy has always been a tremendous part of our city, and it is a vital part of our city and that is going to continue to sit back and see how the navy and the city have worked together through this tragic situation. It's very, very impressive. What I'm thinking about now is that we don't find any victims. So far, we've been very lucky. We got to go through a few more buildings that the chief said, and that's what's on my mind right now.
[Unidentified Male:] And there are private citizens of Virginia Beach who stepped up, actually helped to rescue the piles
[Sessoms:] Let me say to you, you know, out of all bad comes some good and never have I ever been so proud of our police, fire, EMS, the navy, the state, the citizens of Virginia Beach out here helping to move fire hoses. That shows you the quality of the people in the city and that they really care and they're helping each other, and for that, I am most grateful.
[Unidentified Male:] Can you give us any idea of what you do in the circumstances
[Weisgerber:] We go through extensive emergency procedure training and certainly is a part of a continuum that goes on throughout our entire career. In the case of catastrophic malfunctions, we do have emergency procedures. There's no indication that the air crew were able to do anything other than have a forced ejection today. And again, that will be part of the full investigation that goes on both from the safety and the legal round from today's
[Unidentified Female:] Are you aware of how many times the student pilot had actually been in the air? We have one more question. Are you aware of how many times the student pilot had actually been in the air?
[Weisgerber:] I am not. However, the instructor pilot was extremely experienced.
[Unidentified Male:] Chief, as an experienced first responder, you just had a jet fighter crash I think we're truly blessed by that. I think, in fact, the folks doing the right thing before our assets got here, and we hope they will continue to do the right thing. If they find pieces of the aircraft, we would ask that they not touch them, that they will call our 311 line here in the city. We'll partner with our naval partners, and we'll make sure that it's rectified. We with would like people to stay away from the area if at all possible, and if anybody has residents that live in these Mayfair apartments, we would ask that you certainly call the 311 number as well so we can track those folks down.
[Johns:] So, there you go. A news conference in Virginia each giving us just a bit of new information, probably, the most significant piece of information there is a representative of the United States navy on the scene essentially calling this a catastrophic mechanical malfunction of the aircraft. This was a two-seater F-18, we're told, and we're also told that there was a pilot in training in the front of the aircraft and an instructor in the back. The mayor, there you saw, of Virginia Beach saying they've been very, very lucky there, so far, with the reports of casualties and injuries. Now, let's talk a little bit to Lt. Col. Rob "Waldo" Waldman. I was just talking to you before that news conference began. They're describing this as a catastrophic malfunction. That much seems clear. What did you take away from this news conference?
[Waldman:] Well, I definitely took away the community and the training. I mean, in a situation like this, obviously, the pilots have got to react to avoid as much damage and as much possibility of a casualty. When the accident happens, you're low altitude, the first thing you do in your training is you turn that altitude or that airspeed into altitude. And you maintain the aircraft control. You analyze the situation. You take proper action, and then, you land as soon as conditions permit. Now, in this situation, they didn't have a landing strip to land on so they had to make a choice. Either stay with the plane or eject, and as we're trained we have to eject in the area that will minimize casualties, and as I said, it's a very, very populated area. I am sure the pilots were very, very confident that they were putting it down in the best area where it would minimize any extra casualties. If they could have taken it out into the ocean they would have, but quick actions, I guarantee save lives, and it's great just to watch the community come together, as the mayor said, be a bunch of great wingmen and serve without having to be in uniform, obviously.
[Johns:] Now, this was a training flight. They've admitted that. And, as I just reported, we had the training pilot in the front, the instructor in the back. Describe for our viewers how typical that is with a new pilot learning how to fly.
[Waldman:] It's very, very typical now. Mind you, the folks that are flying in the plane, there's a very experienced instructor pilot in the back and a student in the front. They already have their wings. They're already qualified to fly. Now, oftentimes, they're getting checked out in that particular aircraft, getting what we call M.R., mission ready. Now, before they even step into the plane, they've gone into simulators. They've practiced it on the ground. They rehearsed it in their mind over and over again. The instructor pilot has questioned and challenged that individual. And if they aren't ready on the ground, they don't fly. So, ultimately, because this was a student, that individual in the back, the man or woman that was a commander of that aircraft had to make decisions. They make split second decisions. They follow through and they react just as they trained on the ground.
[Johns:] In that kind of a scenario, does the instructor pilot have the power to take over control of the plane if, say, the student pilot is doing something wrong?
[Waldman:] Absolutely. They are trained and that that discipline, that in-flight discipline is critical, and if that student doesn't follow those procedures and have the discipline, they don't make it through the program. So, these are pre-qualifications before you step into that jet. And as an instructor, in particular, during very dangerous situations on takeoff and landing, when you're close to the ground, when split-second decisions need to happen very fast because the ground will kill you, obviously, the training has to be very, very, very strict and comply with it at all times.
[Johns:] Now, obviously, we'd be speculating just a bit, but I do have to ask you, given what we know about this and also the fact that there were flames seen coming out of the right side of the plane, how likely is it, based on what we know, that this was operator error?
[Waldman:] You know, one thing about the military, we have to keep in mind, is that you have to be very, very careful not to draw conclusions. They're going to have a safety investigation board, a lot of smart people are going to break this whole scenario apart from beginning to end, they're going to look at the machinery, look at all the wreckage and find a solution to this problem. There is always a possibility of operator error. This is a human being or human beings flying aircraft. But for example, with flame, the aircraft may have been an afterburner trying to gain thrust to get out of the area, then there have been a fuel problem. There may have been something else going wrong. So it's very, very important to let the safety investigation board do their job with the first responders, put together a great solution to this puzzle, and I guarantee the training and the discipline will come to fruition and we're going to see a good answer to this tragic event.
[Johns:] Lieutenant Colonel Rob Waldman, thanks so much for coming and we appreciate you insights and for hanging around through that news conference.
[Waldman:] Proud to be here. Thank you.
[Johns:] Much more ahead. We're going to talk to a woman who actually witnessed the crash. She saw the plane nosedive, quote, "with flames under the right wing."