The Navy has launched an internal investigation to find out more about why a fighter jet crashed into an apartment complex in Virginia. As of Friday there were no reported fatalities. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.
By NBC News and Kari Huus, msnbc.com
There were no signs early Saturday that anyone was killed?when a Navy jet crashed into an apartment building in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Friday, with the fire department saying there were no reports of missing people.
Late Friday three people were still regarded as unaccounted for, but Virginia Beach Fire Department battalion chief Tim Riley told NBC News Saturday that no bodies had been found and they were now not actively looking for anyone. At least seven people were injured.
However, Riley stressed that he was not saying the site was clear and there was a chance that someone walking in the area or a visitor to the apartment building could have been caught up in the accident.
"We consider ourselves very fortunate," Riley told the AP.
Environmental crews were still working on the scene early Saturday.
63 people lose their homes
Riley?told NBC News?that an investigation into the circumstances of the crash by the Navy was getting underway.
He added that, according to their manifests of the buildings affected, 63 people have been displaced by the crash.
Riley told NBC News that 26 people showed up at a shelter set up for residents affected by the crash and they were given hotel vouchers.
Bill Tiernan / AP
Emergency personal gather at the scene of a jet crash Friday, April 6, 2012 in Virginia Beach, Va.
The accident happened at noon Friday, when the Navy F/A-18D plane careened into the building, exploding into flames.
Moments before, it was seen flying too low, trailing smoke and flames. Witnesses watched as the two pilots ejected from the aircraft.
Bruce Nedelka, the Virginia Beach EMS division chief, said that witnesses saw fuel spilling from the jet before it went down and that fuel was found on buildings and vehicles in the area.
Navy jet crash: 'My whole backyard was on fire'
It was unclear whether the pilots dumped the fuel to try to reduce the size of the fire on the ground or whether the "catastrophic mechanical malfunction" that a Navy spokesman said the jet suffered might have contributed.
John Swain, who was exiting an interstate highway nearby, came upon the scene just seconds after the crash and said it appeared that the jet had hit a two-story apartment complex dead center.
"The plane came right over us and was clearly in difficulty," he told msnbc cable TV. "There were flames coming off the back ? The plane got lower and lower and just as I turned ? it crashed."
Pilot: 'Sorry for destroying your house'
Neighbors rushed to the scene, and some jumped into action to help. One woman told NBC reporter Thanh Truong that she and others pulled four people from one building just before it collapsed.
Residents said that one of the pilots had to be cut free of his parachute gear after it became tangled in a burning building. People ran with a knife to free him so he could be moved to safety, the city editor of The Virginian-Pilot told msnbc cable TV.
Navy jet crashes into Virginia Beach apartments; 7 hurt
Colby Smith said his house started shaking and then the power went out, as he saw a red and orange blaze outside his window. He ran outside, where he saw billowing black smoke and then came upon the tangled pilot as he ran to a friend's home, The Associated Press reported.
"I saw the parachute on the house and he was still connected to it, and he was laying on the ground with his face full of blood," Smith said.
"The pilot said, 'I'm sorry for destroying your house,'" Smith told the AP.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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