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An F/A-18D Navy jet on a training mission has crashed into an apartment building in Virginia Beach, Va. There were not immediate reports of casualties.

The two members of the crew ejected safely, although one was hospitalized for non-life-threatening injuries. Four civilians and a police officer were also treated for minor injuries.

Update at 5:19 p.m. ET: The news conference has begun, minus an admiral.

A Navy captain says shortly after takeoff on the training mission, the F/A-18 "suffered a catastrophic mechanical malfunction," but he won't speculate about the specifics.

He says there is no indication the plane hit a bird.

A student pilot was in the front seat, with an "extremely experienced" pilot behind him.

Both pilots are local, and both are "up and about and coherent and doing fine" at the hospital.

Update at 4:57 p.m. ET: A news conference is being delayed until a Navy admiral arrives, apparently from the West Coast. A Virginia Beach official said he has "been in the air for some time." No further explanation.

Update at 4:41 p.m. ET: Adm. John C. Harvey Jr., the commander of U.S. Fleet Forces, based in Norfolk, has issued a statement:

"My thoughts and prayers are with our citizens and families who have been impacted by the tragic crash today in Virginia Beach by an aircraft from NAS Oceana.

I deeply regret that some in our community have lost their homes, and I, like many, pray for the well-being of all.

I must also offer my deepest gratitude to the citizens of Virginia Beach and the Mayfair Mews Apartments, as well as Virginia Beach's first responders, for their immediate and heroic response to take care of our aircrew after they ejected and all at the scene of the mishap.

I have spoken with Mayor Sessoms, and all the resources of the Navy in Hampton Roads are being made available to the City of Virginia Beach as we all deal with the impacts and recovery from this terrible mishap.

We will continue to work directly with the City of Virginia Beach and continue to provide all possible assistance.

We will conduct a complete investigation into the cause of this mishap and share all information we have as soon as we are able to do so."

Update at 3:51 p.m. ET: A Virginia Beach spokesman says search crews have finished checking the wreckage of two buildings and still have three to go. So far, no fatalities have been reported.

Of the seven injuries reported, all were minor: the two pilots, four civilians and one police officer, WAVY says. Three other civilians refused treatment at the scene.

The spokesman said 63 people have been displaced from the apartment complex, the Portsmouth Daily Press reports. Most of the residents are over 55, said a man whose grandmother lives there.

A temporary shelter at an elementary school will open shortly, officials said.

Update at 3:37 p.m. ET: Interstate 264 has reopened in both directions.


CAPTIONAP
Update at 3:29 p.m. ET: A witness tells WAVY she came upon the pilot on her porch, with his parachute hanging on a tree. She said he was in shock and bloody, and said, "I'm sorry for destroying your house."

Here's WAVY's live stream.

Update at 3:18 p.m. ET: Witnesses saw the pilots dump fuel before ejecting, the Associated Press says.

"By doing so, he mitigated what could have been an absolute massive, massive fireball and fire," said Bruce Nedelka of the Virginia Beach Emergency Medical Services. "With all of that jet fuel dumped, it was much less than what it could have been."

Update at 3:13 p.m. ET: Four civilians are being treated at area hospitals but their injuries are not critical, a doctor says, according to WAVY-TV.

Update at 3:05 p.m. ET: Five buildings, each with four apartments, were heavily damaged, a Virginia Beach battalion chief says. So far, no reports of anyone trapped or injured in the rubble.

The Associated Press reports at least three people were hospitalized after the crash, including the two aviators. A Navy commander says one of the two pilots is reported in good condition at a nearby hospital and the other is in fair condition.

Original post and updates by Douglas Stanglin:

Update at 2:01 p.m. ET: A witness, Keith Gutkowski, tells CNN: "When (my wife) walked outside of our condo, she heard the jet and just saw it almost fall out of the sky. It was almost at an angle pointing toward us."

Gutkowski says one of the ejection seats, unoccupied, "hit one of the oak trees and took a few branches off of that and then it slammed into our fence at the condo." He says the other seat landed in the backyard of the house next to his condo.

Update at 1:53 p.m. ET: There was "significant disruption" to the apartment complex buildings, says Battalion Chief Tim Riley, a Virginia Beach Fire Department spokesman, Navy Times reports. There are no confirmed injuries in the apartment complex but emergency crews have not yet been through the entire crash scene, he says.

Update at 1:49 p.m. ET: Former Navy SEAL Patrick McAleenan was a block away when the plane crashed and says the sound was unmistakable and that the walls of his home shook, Navy Times reports.

He tells Navy Times' Joshua Stewart that the pilots ejected at the last possible second in an apparent effort to make sure that the plane would not crash into a nearby school.

"One of them, literally, his parachute hung on a balcony. The people on the ground were dragging him to safety," he says.

The F/A-18's tail section was intact, lying in the apartment building's courtyard, he says.

"There's fire crews. There are lines. Everybody is helping everybody. The lines are charged and ready and it looks like they are looking to see if there are any casualties or survivors and assessing the damage," McAleenan tells Navy Times.



Update at 1:45 p.m. ET: Navy spokeswoman Lt. Kate Ringelstein tells USA TODAY's Marisol Bello that the F-18 crashed shortly after takeoff, the two pilots ejecting safely before it slammed into an apartment complex.

Ringelstein says the Navy does not yet know the reason for the crash. "We assume it was a malfunction because it crashed in such a populated area," she says.

The plane took off from Naval Air Station Oceana at about 12:05 p.m. The pilots are part of a Navy and Marine Corps training squadron, she says.

Update at 1:40 p.m. ET: Battalion Chief Tim Riley, spokesman for the Virginia Beach Fire Department, tells The Virginian-Pilot that at least one of the aviators had been taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Update at 1:36 pm. ET: The Virginian-Pilot newspaper reports that the fire at the two buildings in the apartment complex were mostly under control but had not been officially declared out. There still was no word on casualties.

Update at 1:29 p.m. ET: WTRK-TV in Norfolk, Va., reports that the two aviators have been hospitalized.

WTRK reports that the F-18 Navy jet was assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106, based at Naval Air Station Oceana, and serves as the East Coast Fleet Replacement Squadron.

Update at 1:18 p.m. ET: The Virginian-Pilot reports that the jet slammed into the center of the five-building Mayfair Mews apartment complex.

Cmdr. Phil Rosi, a spokesman for Naval Air Force Atlantic, tells the newspaper that both aviators safely ejected from the plane, which appeared to encounter difficulties shortly after takeoff.

EMS Division Chief Bruce Nedelka tells the newspaper that two buildings were on fire.

Update at 1:02 p.m. ET: CNN quotes a witness, identified as George Pilkington, as saying the aircraft crashed into an apartment building. There was no immediate report of casualties.

"It was just a big ball of flames," Pilkington tells CNN.

The F-18 was based at nearby Oceana Naval Air Station.

Original post: WAVY says two crewmembers safely ejected from the aircraft.

It was not immediately clear whether the jet struck any people or buildings on the ground.