Can anyone explain why and how flames shot out of an F/A-18 as it crashed? Can anyone explain why and how flames have shot out of the left engine of this F/A-18, whose left engine was apparently not generating power, the picture is here. And the source website where I got the infomation from is here.
The accident happened in Lethbridge, Canada in the July of 2010. Below is a comment posted on the forum in response to the post of the crash on ED forums:


  It was a fuel control problem (sticky piston) on the right engine, isn't #1 the left? The open nozzle of the left engine indicates that it's either a) at idle or b) at full power/burner which it was in this case as the pilot was executing a high alpha pass at the time.


The comment about the left engine not hasving power is here:


  The left engine has the nozzle fully open, showing that #1 engine was developing no power.
Fuel has to reach the engine to make it work, so there is a path (pipes) available for the fuel to get from the tanks into the engines.

Looking (*) at the video linked by Pierre Chevallier it looks like some fuel got pressed out of the tanks, into the engine(s) and out the engine nozzle, and in the process it got ignited.

I cannot say why the fuel got only in one engine, I can guess that the valves on the fuel lines were in different positions.

(*) I suggest using the option to visualize at x0.25 speed, starting at the 0:30 mark