"It is unthinkable but not impossible."
That's what WAVY reporter Art Kohn said in introducing a December segment about the Navy training with crews from Virginia Beach and Chesapeake to prepare for a possible off-base jet crash.
Little did emergency personnel know the skills they learned would come in handy just a few months later when an F/A-18D Navy jet would slam into a Virginia Beach apartment complex causing structural damage and injuries.
The training exercise readied crews for a worst-case deadly scenario in which first responders put out fires and treated potential victims for burns, inhalation and other trauma.
No fatalities have yet been reported as a result of Friday's crash at Mayfair Mews apartments, although at least 5 people were being treated at a nearby hospital, the Los Angeles Times reports.
According to the Navy, the jet crashed shortly after taking off from the Naval Air Station Oceana at about noon on April 6. Both pilots were able to eject themselves from the plane before it plummeted to the ground. In the report, WAVY observes the Navy runs similar training exercises every year.
UPDATE:Seven people, including both pilots, were injured as of late Friday afternoon, the Associated Press reports.