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6th anniversary of the Virginia Beach ‘Good Friday Miracle’ jet crash

Posted at 10:16 AM, Apr 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-06 17:34:56-04

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Friday marks the six year anniversary of what many call a miracle after a jet crashed into an apartment building on Good Friday 2012, and no one was seriously injured.

An F/A 18D Navy jet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106  at Naval Air Station Oceana crashed into the Mayfair Mews Apartments in Virginia Beach on Birdneck Road.

Michael Moody, a Mayfair Mews Apartments resident on the day of the crash, remembers the sight, sound and smell of burning jet fuel.

"I saw a big huge flash as the ground moved up and down real quick," Moody told News 3 one year after the crash happened.

Complete coverage: Good Friday Miracle Jet Crash

The crash displaced dozens of residents for more than a month but after the apartments were repaired, many moved back in.

Shortly after we aired their story in 2016, the buildings were torn down. The Mayfair Mews property owners sold the lot to a builder who demolished the standing units to build new ones.

Some said the sight was a painful memory of the jet crash, but residents like Pat Kavanaugh know the outcome could have been much more devastating, "The chances of me losing my life that day—it was close," said Kavanaugh.