Military jet crash in San Diego kills 3 on ground

[samanthajane13]

By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press Writer Elliot Spagat, Associated Press Writer – 49 mins ago



SAN DIEGO – A fighter jet returning to a Marine base after a training exercise crashed in flames in a San Diego neighborhood Monday, killing three people on the ground, leaving one missing and destroying two homes. The pilot of the F/A-18D Hornet jet ejected safely just before the crash around noon at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. Explosions rocked a neighborhood of half-million-dollar homes, sending flames and plumes of smoke skyward.

"The house shook; the ground shook. It was like I was frozen in my place," said Steve Krasner, who lives a few blocks from the crash. "It was bigger than any earthquake I ever felt."

Three people were killed in a house where two children, a mother and a grandmother were believed to be at the time of the crash, but fire officials did not immediately know who died. Another person remained missing.

"We just know that four people were inside, and three of them have been accounted for," Fire Department spokesman Maurice Luque said.

The pilot, who ended up hanging by his parachute from a tree in a canyon beneath the neighborhood, was in stable condition at a naval hospital in San Diego, said Miramar spokeswoman 1st Lt. Katheryn Putnam. The pilot was returning from training on the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the San Diego coast when the plane went down, she said.

Putnam had no details on a possible cause. Investigators will review information from a flight data recorder, and there was no indication the pilot was using alcohol or drugs, she said.

Firefighters hosed down rubble more than three hours after the crash as white smoke continued to rise from it. Authorities said the smoke was toxic, and about 20 homes were evacuated.

There was little sign of the plane in the smoking ruins, but a piece of cockpit sat on the roof of one home, and a charred jet engine lay on a street near a parked camper. A parachute was visible in the canyon below a row of houses.

The neighborhood in the University City section of San Diego smelled of jet fuel and smoke. Ambulances, fire trucks and police cars choked the streets. A Marine Corps bomb disposal truck was there, although police assured residents there was no ordnance aboard the jet.

Neighbors described chaos after the jet tore into the houses and flames erupted.

"It was pandemonium," said Paulette Glauser, 49, who lived six houses away. "Neighbors were running down toward us in a panic, of course."

Jets frequently streak over the neighborhood, two miles from the base, but residents said the imperiled aircraft was flying extremely low.

Jordan Houston was looking out his back window three blocks from the crash when the plane passed by. A parachute ejected from the craft, followed by a loud explosion and a mushroom-shaped cloud.

Houston, 25, said a truck exploded after the driver backed over flaming debris and then jumped from the cab yelling, "I just filled up my gas tank."

The Marine Corps said the pilot was part of the Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101, based at Miramar.

An F-18, a supersonic jet used widely in the Marine Corps and Navy and by the stunt-flying Blue Angels, costs about $57 million. An F-18 crashed at Miramar — known as the setting for the movie "Top Gun" — in November 2006, and that pilot also ejected safely.

The crash was near University City High School, where students were kept locked in classrooms after the crash. Barbara Prince, a school secretary, said there was no damage to the campus and no one was injured.

Neighbors jolted by the crash said they initially thought it was the sound of gunshots, a train derailment or tractor-trailer trucks colliding.

"It was quite violent," said Ben Dishman, 55, who was resting on his couch after having back surgery. "I hear the jets from Miramar all the time. I often worry that one of them will hit one of these homes. It was inevitable. I feel very lucky."

___

Associated Press writers Michael R. Blood and Alicia Chang in Los Angeles and Erica Werner in Washington contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081209/...tary_jet_crash

[One2Snoop]

Slideshow of crash....

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/San-Di...crash_military

[samanthajane13]

Thanks for adding the video link, O2S!!!

It's so VERY SAD!!!

[RayStar]

I always fear that this will happen with the news/traffic helicopters that fly over the expressway I live four blocks from. This is so sad.

[samanthajane13]

Congressional aide says crashed jet lost power
By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press Writer Elliot Spagat, Associated Press Writer – 16 mins ago



SAN DIEGO – Both engines of a military jet fighter failed before the aircraft crashed and burned in a residential area, killing three people on the ground as it destroyed two houses, a congressional aide said Tuesday.

Investigators resumed the search for a missing child, believed to be 1 year old, in the wreckage of one house. Neighbors were in shock at the tragedy that befell the child's family Monday, hours after the father kissed his wife and baby goodbye in the driveway.

The twin-engine F/A-18D Hornet went down about two miles from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

No official initial finding of the cause of the crash was given, but a congressional aide who had been briefed on the crash said the pilot had been attempting to land at Miramar after his right engine malfunctioned. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not yet public.

While the pilot was on final approach to the runway the aircraft also lost thrust from its left engine, and the pilot ejected, the aide said Tuesday.

The pilot ended up suspended by his parachute in a tree. He was being treated at a hospital.

Three people — a mother, her baby and a grandmother — were killed in one house and officials said a fourth person, believed to be a small child, was in the house and had not been found. The search for the child had been suspended during the night.

One other home was destroyed and three were damaged.

Neighbors said the family of Korean immigrants moved into the area about three months ago.

Resident Choko McConnell, 85, a widow who lives down the street, said she often saw the grandmother pushing a child in a stroller.

"I cried all night," McConnell said. "A family perished, a young family."

Michael Rose, 44, said he often spoke with the family and had seen the father kiss his wife and baby goodbye in the driveway just hours before the crash.

"I thought, what a beautiful sight. And then later in the day, they were gone," Rose said.

Amy Hegy, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross, San Diego, said she spoke to the father of the children when he returned to the gutted home Monday night. Hegy said he was "calm" and stayed with friends. She also said the man had extended family in San Diego but would not reveal further details.

Military aircraft frequently streak over the neighborhood, two miles from the base, but residents said the imperiled aircraft was flying extremely low.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner said it had tentatively identified each of the victims and was in contact with family members for confirmation. No names were released.

The pilot, who ended up hanging by his parachute from a tree in a canyon beneath the neighborhood, was in stable condition at a Navy hospital, said 1st Lt. Katheryn Putnam, a Miramar spokeswoman. He had been returning from training on the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast, she said.

Investigators will review information from a flight data recorder. There was no indication the pilot was using alcohol or drugs, Putnam said.

Dawn Lyons spoke to the pilot just after he landed in the tree.

"I saw an incredibly composed person," Lyons said. "He didn't have any scrapes or bruises. He was very lucid."

There was little sign of the plane in the smoking ruins, but a piece of cockpit sat on the roof of one home, and a charred jet engine lay on the street. Authorities said the smoke wreckage was toxic and about 20 homes were evacuated.

A Marine Corps bomb disposal truck was brought to the neighborhood in the University City section of San Diego, although police assured residents there was no explosive ordnance aboard the jet.

The Navy recently inspected hundreds of F/A-18 Hornets, built by Boeing Co., after discovering "fatigue cracks" on more than a dozen of them. The inspections looked for cracks in a hinge that connects the aileron — a flap that helps stabilize the jet in flight — to the wing.

The Navy announced last month it had grounded 10 of the $57 million fighters and placed flight restrictions on 20 more until repairs could be made.

The supersonic jet is widely used by the Marine Corps and Navy and by the stunt-flying Blue Angels. An F-18 crashed at Miramar — the setting for the movie "Top Gun" — in November 2006, and that pilot ejected safely.

___

Associated Press writers Michael R. Blood and Alicia Chang in Los Angeles and Erica Werner in Washington contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081209/...tary_jet_crash

[samanthajane13]

Records sought on jet type that killed 4 in crash
By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press Writer Elliot Spagat, Associated Press Writer – Wed Dec 10, 12:23 am ET



SAN DIEGO – A high-ranking congressman called on the Marine Corps on Tuesday to release the maintenance records of all fighter jets of the type that lost power and crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, killing four members of a family.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said the fiery crash Monday of the F/A-18D Hornet fighter as it approached Marine Corps Air Station Miramar was apparently caused by power failure.

"My understanding ... is that the engines failed, causing the aircraft to lose thrust," said Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper.

The crash was probably unrelated to the previous discovery of cracks in hinges on the wings of more than a dozen of the $57 million aircraft, the San Diego-area congressman said.

"It is important that we gain a complete understanding of what went wrong," Hunter said in a statement.

Marine Cpl. Travis Easter said officials at Miramar had no immediate response to the request for maintenance records.

The Navy announced last month that it was grounding 10 of the planes and limiting the flights of 20 others because of the cracks. It was not immediately clear whether the plane that crashed in San Diego was under any flight restrictions.

The pilot ejected safely and was taken to a naval hospital in stable condition. He was discovered hanging by his parachute from a tree in a canyon beneath the neighborhood.

Miramar officials declined to say whether he remained hospitalized, but witnesses said he appeared unhurt.

The Marine Corps fighter plane was returning from an offshore training mission when it clipped a tree and slammed into homes about two miles from Miramar. Two homes were incinerated, and three others were damaged. Three generations of a Korean family died in one home.

The family's pastor, the Rev. Kevin Lee of the Korean United Methodist Church in San Diego, identified three of them as Young Mi Yoon, 36; her 2-month-old daughter, Rachel; and her mother, Suk Im Kim, who was visiting from South Korea to help care for her daughter's newborn.

The body of 15-month-old Grace Yoon, Rachel's sister, was found in the home Tuesday, Fire Department spokesman Maurice Luque said. No one else remained missing.

The San Diego County medical examiner's office has not officially released the names of the victims.

Neighbors said the family of immigrants had moved into the area about three months ago.

Resident Choko McConnell, 85, a widow who lives down the street, said she often saw the grandmother pushing a child in a stroller.

"I cried all night," McConnell said. "A family perished, a young family."

__

Associated Press writer Erica Werner in Washington contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081210/...tary_jet_crash

[samanthajane13]

Widower seeks help after jet crash kills family
By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press Writer Elliot Spagat, Associated Press Writer – Wed Dec 10, 6:30 am ET



SAN DIEGO – Overwhelmed with anguish, Dong Yun Yoon walked unsteadily to a pile of rubble where his home once stood and pleaded for advice on how to cope after losing his family.

His wife, two children and mother-in-law were killed when a fighter jet lost power and crashed through their home and burst into flames. A day after the tragedy, Yoon held a news conference to ask guidance from people who have suffered "more terrible things."

"Please tell me how to do it," he said Tuesday, surrounded by his pastor, sister and brother. "I don't know what to do."

Yoon, sobbing into a tissue at the foot of his destroyed house, also asked for prayer for the jet's Marine pilot, who ejected safely from the F/A-18D Hornet after his training mission went awry Monday.

"I don't have any hard feelings," Yoon, 37, told reporters. "I know he did everything he could."

The military has given no official word on the cause of the crash, which incinerated two homes and damaged three others.

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, called on the Marine Corps on Tuesday to release the maintenance records of all its F/A-18D Hornet fighters.

He said the fiery crash was apparently caused by power failure. "My understanding ... is that the engines failed, causing the aircraft to lose thrust," Hunter spokesman Joe Kasper said.

The crash was probably unrelated to the previous discovery of cracks in hinges on the wings of more than a dozen of the $57 million aircraft, the San Diego-area congressman said.

"It is important that we gain a complete understanding of what went wrong," Hunter said.

The jet was returning from an offshore training mission when it clipped a tree and slammed into the neighborhood about two miles from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

Marine Cpl. Travis Easter said Miramar officials had no immediate response to the request for maintenance records.

The Rev. Kevin Lee, associate pastor of the Korean United Methodist Church that Yoon attended, identified the victims as Young Mi Yoon, 36; her daughters Grace, 15 months, and Rachel, 2 months; and her mother, Suk Im Kim, 60. Lee said Kim was visiting from South Korea to help her daughter move across town and adjust to the arrival of her second child.

Dong Yun Yoon emigrated from South Korea in 1989, learning English and becoming a U.S. citizen, church leaders said. He helped run his brother-in-law's stores — a coffee shop in a San Diego beach neighborhood and a variety store near the Mexican border, according to Michael Rose, a neighbor.

The family had recently moved into the area after outgrowing their condominium.

Neighbors and church leaders said Young Mi Yoon was a religious woman who sought to balance family and career. She was preparing to become a registered nurse, her job in South Korea.

Rose, 44, saw Dong Yun Yoon say goodbye to his wife and baby in their driveway as he left for work Monday, about three hours before the fighter jet clipped a jacaranda tree, bounced off the pavement and crashed into the Yoons' home.

"I saw their last kiss," said Rose, a retired photographer. "I thought, `What a beautiful sight,' and then later in the day they were just gone."

___

Associated Press writer Erica Werner in Washington contributed to this report.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081210/...tary_jet_crash

[samanthajane13]

Senators urge swift probe of jet fighter crash
By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press Writer Elliot Spagat, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 19 mins ago

SAN DIEGO – California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer joined the call for the Marine Corps to review its entire fleet of F/A18-D Hornet jets for possible problems after a fiery crash killed two young girls, their mother and their grandmother.

In a joint letter Wednesday, the two senators asked Gen. James Conway, Marines commandant, to quickly complete the investigation of Monday's crash and make the results public.

"We can all agree that in urban areas like San Diego County, where the military and civilian populations closely coexist, it is absolutely vital that all precautionary steps are taken to ensure the safety of both our civilian and military residents," the letter read.

Marine spokesman Maj. David Nevers had no immediate comment on the request.

Initial reports suggest the jet may have suffered engine failure on a training exercise after takeoff from the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln about 50 miles offshore from San Diego. The jet was returning from an offshore training mission when it clipped a tree and slammed into the neighborhood about two miles from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, previously called on the Marine Corps to release the maintenance records of its F/A-18D Hornet fighters.

The crash was probably unrelated to the previous discovery of cracks in hinges on the wings of more than a dozen of the $57 million aircraft, the San Diego-area congressman said.

Boxer and Feinstein also urged the Marines to assist people affected by the crash, particularly Dong Yun Yoon, a Korean immigrant whose family perished when the plane hit his home near the base.

Yoon had asked for guidance from people who have suffered "more terrible things" at a news conference Tuesday. His appearance at the news conference was interrupted by a military jet flying overhead.

His church had identified the victims as Young Mi Yoon, 36; her daughters Grace, 15 months, and Rachel, 2 months; and her mother, Suk Im Kim, 60. Kim was visiting from South Korea to help her daughter move across town and adjust to the arrival of her second child.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081211/...tary_jet_crash