My house got destroyed by the F-18 yesterday AMA

Do you regret building that giant magnet in your living room?

hahahha, my friends were telling me yesterday that I "knew too much" and the government was trying to take me out.

It was all part of the navy's new three pronged assassination program: subsonic, sonic, and supersonic. Supersonic? Ill show you. Hey you, dodge this FA-18!

"Hey navy, I'm sorry my house was in the way of your sweet plane, I'll know now not to leave my valuables laying around in your way, my bad"

scumbag jet: protects your country, flies into your house.

I'm surprised the Navy hasn't sued you for destroying their jet with your house.

my friend said that to me also haha

symptoms of schizophrenia/a strong desire to time travel may soon develop.

I could use a time machine.

I need to re-watch that. Thanks for the reminder!

happy cake day btw!

I live right behind 501 on Birdneck. I heard the noise but brushed it off as a small earthquake or the jets flying too low again. I ran out there an hour later with my camera. Glad everyone was okay. Here are some of the photos I shot. Link to photos

Edit: Added more images to the album.

woah. it's crazy to see my neighbors, these shots are. unreal. I work at badass, if you ever go there, come say hi, i want to meet you!

You made my coffee the other day! My girlfriend said she liked your shirt.

I'm glad to see customers on reddit :)

How has the Navy and Department of Defense handling this? How are try behaving towards you? I imagine that a lot of stuff is happening, do thanks for doing this AMA

They have given us an $89 allowance a day for lodging and $30 for food. And just a $200 for clothing. I have so much paperwork I have to do through them and they told us yesterday that we will eventually get money back for our losses....but that could take up to two years.

I have so much paperwork I have to do through them and they told us yesterday that we will eventually get money back for our losses....but that could take up to two years.

Get a lwyer to do the paperwork. Don't sign anything you don't know. They will fuck you. They are not there to help you out, they are there to reduce their losses. If that means you lose a home, then fuck you.

They've given you $89 per day for lodging and $30 per day for food for destroying your home. Do you think they care?

Seek legal assistance immediately. At the bare minimum talk to someone who can help you understand what you are signing. Do not sign your rights away or you will be left with nothing. Your home is already gone and your brother could have died. Time to play hardball.

thank you for the advice, it is noted and I will.

I know you JUST said you will lawyer up, but seriously, lawyer up. It will be worth every penny. I'd hate to see the government win this one, and the fact that you haven't already contacted legal representation is a bit...disconcerting. It's the most important step you can take right now, and will make every single step after a LOT easier and with a much better result. I would actually recommend taking a break from this AMA to call some lawyers you know, or people who know lawyers, and basically just get a plan together on how you will decide who should represent you. Get it done! Good luck with everything my friend, so glad you're all OK, and thanks for doing this AMA!

Tomorrow I will talk to my family about it and we'll talk. My aunt also works at a lawyer's firm so she'll be able to help. I just wanted to do this since I got some access to a computer for a short amount of time. and really thank you for all your help!

Not a single 'um', 'er', or filler word in your brother's recount of the story, nice job to your brother for telling such a composed story after having his house destroyed.

He was running on so much adrenaline.

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were you really? that's crazy. :/

Actually I'm sitting at my parents place, a small village in the North of the Netherlands. Your story also reached all the way here and me and my parents are amazed (and glad) that everybody survived!

How are the injured doing? Did the pilots recover from their initial shock? We all wish you a lot of strength the upcomming time.

That's crazy my house is world-wide news. No one has any life threatening injuries! And I think the pilots are still in the hospital though. And thank you :)

Are you guys sick of the Donnie Darko references yet? What has the government's overall attitude been? "So sorry for crashing that jet into your house" or "Just deal with it" ?

I texted my friend yesterday and told him my house got hit by a jet and he thought I was watching Donnie Darko until he turned on his TV. And their attitude has been very apologetic, glorifying the fact that no one died (which is a miracle) and they want to help us, but it's going to take a LONG time.

Is it covered by normal insurance, or will the military be ponying up replacement costs?

We have renters insurance, but that won't kick in for another 4-6 months, the navy is going to compensate us but they said that can take up to two years.

I am sorry I laughed at the title of this AMA. It's just so surreal it's funny.

I know!! It's crazy, I feel like it's something that happens to other people...

Do you know the guy who got on the frontpage yesterday for a picture of the crash? (he's apparently your neighbor)

edit: here's the picture from yesterday http://i.imgur.com/WKpwP.jpg

YES! he's awesome. crazy story though....we were sitting with him yesterday when the navy was talking to us and he ended up having severe heart problems in the middle of the meeting and had to be taken to the emergency room, he's fine now he called us and told my family that, but they had busted out an AED for him and that was scary.

How terrifying and otherworldly was that, and what was running through your mind as everything was going on? What are your thoughts now, compared to then?

I was driving home when it happened and for an hour yesterday I thought my brother was dead. I knew he was home and I kept calling and it went straight to voice mail since his phone was destroyed in the fire. My thoughts yesterday were, all over. I couldn't process a single thing. I still really can't. I feel like a zombie. Today I drove by and it made my stomach turn, I haven't seen my house exactly yet and I'm not sure when I'll be able to handle it.

What was your first thought when you saw your home, and how incredibly good did it feel to learn your brother was alive?

My first thought when I saw it on TV was, that's not really my house. It's super unreal. I keep thinking when I wake up I'm going to be back in my bed. And that was the best feeling ever to hear that he was safe, I have never felt so helpless before in my life when I thought he was gone.

That video! "I'm sorry for destroying your house.." Usually that means someone broke your door while being drunk...

Where are you guys staying at right now?

The pilot felt awful, but he rode that jet in for as long as he could ya know? He didn't eject until last minute because he was aiming for the courtyard. And we're at a hotel now.

I can imagine from the pilots point of view. As cool as the story is to tell your grandkids, For him it's not something to ever be proud of. But it's still one hell of a story. Good luck for now. Glad nobody got hurt (i sound like the government :) ) and don't forget to go look up the pilot once your house is rebuild!

My brother actually met a lady yesterday who knows the pilot and has plans to reunite him with my brother, my brother is actually excited to meet him because he is stoked he made it out alive too.

I can imagine. Such a bizarre collision of different worlds. Cool to see that you guys are so open minded about this and are keeping a good spirit!

I feel like I need to be, it can't get much worse! It can only go up from here :)

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really!? thats awesome!

DEVIN. What did I say about entering 4.8.15.16.23.42 into the computer every 108 minutes! Did you forget AGAIN?

edit 108 minutes not hour

who is this!? aha

Are your cats alright?

A lady got reunited with her cat yesterday at the meeting they held for us, it was awesome. My cat doesn't live with me so he's safe :)

Did you or your brother (other than saving the pilot) ever feel the need to go back into the mess to start looking for injured people? Or did you choose to safely wait for professional help to arrive?

I haven't come anywhere near the crash site, just down the road. I have a few friends here who are EMT's and in the Navy and they took over most of helping people. Apparently the neighborhood next door, people broke down the fence and started bursting into homes and grabbing people and bringing them out since it was a retirement community. But I think they told the public to go away with helping since all the jet fuel was around and that's toxic.

Sorry about your house! But very glad no one was killed! Where are you staying now?

I'm at a hotel now with my family, but just for a couple weeks. I have a lot of family here so we'll probably be staying with them once our navy "allowance" stops.

It might just be my inner Jew, but if you have family in the area, I would totally just be staying with them and pocketing the 89+30/day.

Actually, I'm waiting to hear back from my boss who knows someone who owns a hotel at the oceanfront and she said my family can stay there as long as we need to for free, so we're basically paying for the room right now one day at a time.

Hey, I had my house burn down last year because of a forest fire. Not entirely the same thing but I sort of know what you're going through (the zombie-ness, the all over emotion, etc etc)

I got interviewed a lot by all sorts of different news stations. I was down to being interviewed, but looking back now I kinda wish I hadn't. There's quite a few videos where I just look robotic and bleh. Are you thinking/have you done any interviews?

ANECDOTE TIME: The first time we figured our house was totally gone was later that night. The 100km/hr winds had died down enough for a helicopter to go up and take pictures of the worst parts of the fire. We found the area where our house was, which was black, and we just started laughing. The smallest house on the block got torched. Then we started making jokes about how it was 'about time another crisis happened, the cancer thing was so five years ago'. It was a great family-bonding moment. (sounds weird but that's how we deal with stuff like that. My entire family is Marco from the Animorphs.)

They keep interviewing my brother since he's the "hero" in all of this. And I'm sorry about your loss but thank you for sharing your story with me. And we keep joking about it too, there are SO many jokes and all you can really do is laugh at the sheer thought of a navy jet taking out your home. I kept saying a Friday night "hey guys, bonfire at my house!"

Isn't Mayfield Mews apartment complex for people age 55 and up?

yes it is, but because of the times with the economy our landlord was renting out to us younger folk. My brother and I are the youngest in the neighborhood, besides my neighbors who were raising their grandkids. I think they are 8 and 7.

What was the most important thing(s) to you that are now gone forever that was inside your home during the accident?

Well having my family is the most important and I'm so glad they're not gone forever. I'm going to miss my bed a lot. Nothing is like your bed, it makes me really sad that I'm never going to get to lay-down in it again. I also had a HUGE 15 pound stuffed animal, it was Sully from Monster's Inc. My mom gave me a collection of dolls from around the world that my grandpa had given to her when he traveled and they were all like 30 something years old and I always planned to give them to my children one day. It gets really overwhelming when I think about all that I lost because it's everything but the stuff in my car.

Hows it feel to have carte blanche over almost any complaints you hear?

Friend: Man my day is sucking really bad You: Worse then having your house destroyed by the government? Friend: You're a dick Devin....

I did that all last night. My friend was complaining that his mom didn't do his laundry or something like that and I looked at him and went "at least you have laundry to get done" I have such a trump card right now.

That's amazing.

"Hi, my house was destroyed by a fighter jet. Whats up?"

• How exactly did your brother save the pilot? Just wondering.
• Did you or your brother see the pilot(s) eject out of the jet?
• Did you/brother hear the jet crash? How loud was it?
• How old are you? How old is your brother?
• What was your brother doing when the plane crashed? How did it all unfold for him?
• Who is paying for the hotel? Yourselves? The Police Department?
• Thinking rationally, do you see this as the best (lawsuit) or worst (fml) thing that ever happened in your life?

Thanks. Appreciate it. It's an epic story. I think I'm afraid to walk outside now. Shit. Some months ago a small plane crashed into a house. Now a fighter jet. Wtf.

He ran outside and found the pilot with our neighbor and they dragged him to safety because apparently everything was exploding. And my brother was in the house so he didn't see anything beforehand, I've heard there are videos out of the crash happening but I haven't seen them or brought myself to look them up. My brother did and he said it was like very loud thunder. I am 21 and my brother is 20, we're 13 months apart :) My brothers story is actually really cool and it gave me chills when he told me. He was playing guitar hero in his room then got up to go put his contacts in. He was standing in the bathroom when the jet hit. He said it was a loud thunder noise and huge explosion and the house started shaking and the power cut off. He popped his head out of the doorway and saw his room on fire. He ran down the stairs and out the house without shoes on. Ran to my neighbor's house and then found the pilot right beside that house. That's when the pilot said he was sorry for hitting our home and my brother told him it was alright and they needed to move him to safety. There had to be a reason he got up at that precise moment to put his contacts in, it's freaky to think what would have happened to him if he decided to play one more song....

Where and how are you going to live for the next week, month or year? It must have been such a shock! Then again, you now have a pretty amazing story to tell your grandkids/kids/alien overlords. 'So I was sitting down , having a nice cup of tea and suddenly BAM, F-18 in my backyard'. Hope it all works out for you :)

I'm taking it day by day for now, I know I have this hotel room for the next few weeks at least. And it's such a crazy story, my brother and I already plan on getting matching F-18 tattoos so we can share this story forever. We're part of an elite group now.

I stayed at the Linkhorn bay apartment complex this past summer. How close was the accident from that location?

Oh wow, that's super close. From Laskin you make a right onto Birdneck, and my apartment was 2 seconds from there. Right past that 7-11 near the intersection.

Dude, I read about this and thought it was just EPIC! You have one hell of a story for the grand kids. Glad everyone is safe. Did you have volcano insurance? I mean F-18 insurance....

I mean, it is an epic story. I feel like if my house was going to go one day, at least it went out by a fucking F-18 Hornet and not something stupid like "oh I put tin foil in the microwave." We have insurance, just going to take awhile to kick in.

How hilarious was the insurance agents reaction when you/your parents called to explain the claim. "Im sorry... a what?"

they brought insurance company people to our aftermath meeting with the mayor and whatnot.

That's fucking crazy. Does the Navy have to, or will they choose to, provide reparations of some sort to the tenants or at least the owner of the building? Will they pay for hotel rooms for the people who lived there while they sort their lives out? Or is that all just up to insurance companies, and the Navy is just sort of like, "whoops, sorry." Do you and your family have somewhere to stay??

I'm in a hotel for two weeks with a navy "allowance" and I really don't know what they're going to do for us after that. I know we'll get money from them but from what I understand, yesterday they said it could take up to two years. We might be with family after the hotel money is gone, but we're still figuring it all out.

Did it hit your apartment specifically? or was it another persons' apartment and yours was destroyed by the crash?

I also hope your brother is going to put this on his job application, "i survived a plane crashing into my apartment, then was badass enough to go and help the pilot in danger."

It hit the courtyard right beside my unit, I'm not sure if he hit an actual unit per say. Ours is completely destroyed from the fire it caused.

Do you blame the pilot?

no, i commend him for riding it in and hitting the courtyard and the fact he dropped all the fuel to minimize the explosion.