{"id":17473,"date":"2018-03-15T13:34:39","date_gmt":"2018-03-15T13:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/15\/eyewitness-report-fa-18f-exploded-before-fatal-crash\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:54:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:54:23","slug":"eyewitness-report-fa-18f-exploded-before-fatal-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/03\/15\/eyewitness-report-fa-18f-exploded-before-fatal-crash\/","title":{"rendered":"Eyewitness report: Navy F\/A-18F exploded before fatal crash"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A U.S. Navy fighter jet crashed Wednesday off the coast of Key West, Florida, killing its two crew members.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

An eyewitness said that the Navy F\/A-18F aircraft<\/a> that crashed on approach to Naval Air Station Key West yesterday, killing two aviators, may have exploded in midair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Navy officials said late Thursday that the aircraft was on final approach to the base from a routine training mission when the mishap occurred, but couldn\u2019t go into further detail while undergoing the preliminary stages of the investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One eyewitness, however, who lives along the aircraft\u2019s approach path to the base, told Military.com yesterday that the crash \u201clooked like something out of a movie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barbie Wilson had stopped to watch the F\/A-18 flying overhead when she saw what she called a \u201cmassive malfunction\u201d in midair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe wings went vertical, and there was a fireball, and it just literally dropped out of the sky,\u201d Wilson said in the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She didn\u2019t see the aircrew eject, the report said, nor did she see the aircraft hitting the water, but she later observed it laying upside down in the shallows.<\/p>\n\n\n\t