A fighter plane that crashed into an apartment complex in Virginia in the US is said to have "suffered a catastrophic mechanical malfunction" during a training flight.
The plane which crashed soon after takeoff sent fireballs into the sky, damaging six buildings and injuring at least seven people, including the two pilots.
No deaths have been reported, but three residents of the Mayfair Mews complex for the elderly were unaccounted for, authorities said.
"We have physically been in every structure, and we have 95 percent completed the search and rescue," Virginia Beach Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Tim Riley said.
All the injuries, including those to the F/A-18 crew, have so far been described as minor, officials said.
Both crew members ejected safely from the aircraft before it crashed into the buildings in Virginia Beach, and one pilot was found still strapped into his ejection seat.
Thick black clouds of smoke billowed into the air as fire reduced the apartment buildings to a blackened shell.
The Mayfair Mews complex was less than 3.2km from Naval Air Station Oceana, where the F-18D was based.
Crews searched for any injured residents in five buildings, several of which have collapsed, Mr Riley said.
Investigators will remain on the scene for three or four more days after the search is complete, he added.
Witness Kelly McQuaid, who lives near the apartment complex, said the jet was on fire before it crashed.
"It almost looked like the nose was pointed up," she said, "like he was trying to pull back up."
The distinctive, twin-finned tail section of the F/A-18D landed in the courtyard of the complex of two-storey brick buildings.
Dozens of firefighters and emergency workers converged on the scene, covering the apartment complex with foam.
The plane was part of a training squadron at Oceana, the largest Navy air facility on the East Coast. It prepares Navy and Marine aviators and weapons officers for duty. About 250 aircraft are stationed at Oceana.
Admiral John Harvey Jr, commander of the US Fleet Forces, praised the "heroic response" of those at the complex and emergency personnel who took care of the air crew and others at the scene.
There are 37 tactical squadrons of F-18s operating from bases worldwide and from 10 aircraft carriers. The Navy's precision air team, the Blue Angels, flies the F-18.
