F18 Jet crashes into San Diego neighborhood

[scott-dsms]

I just heard this on the news...Hope all in the RDC familia are OK...I know alot of you hail from there.

There's a live video feed on www.foxnews.com (top of the page)

[AllwaysRcn]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/08/military.jet.crash/index.html

[EQP82]

How sad. God Bless.



-Ethan @ 4 Wheel Parts

[bajafox]

So far no deaths are reported, fighter is safe and in the hospital

[michael_loomis]

not sure if this map will show up right, but its directly across the canyon from the apartment I just moved out of next to Nobel athletic center. My ex still lives next to it.

just a couple blocks from her place.. scary.

[Big_T]

We have had our fair share of F-16 crashes her in the Phoenix area. Luckily they were located over non populous areas. This incident will add more fuel to those for shutting down bases because of urban sprawl.

[bajafox]

Some guy on the TV on channel 8 news actually used this as an excuse to build the Charger stadium there

[michael_loomis]

2 ejection seats, but only one pilot.

someone has a cool new lazy boy.

[OldStroppeTeam]

2 ejection seats, but only one pilot.

someone has a cool new lazy boy.

If it "landed" in YOUR living room, I think it will be REPO'ed in very short order....and I don't think those repo guys are any more cordial than any other repo guys !!! :)

[fishd00d]

Ya I think that thing would be repo'd before you could even get to your front door to look outside lol

[michael_loomis]

make a good Lemons seat, dontcha think? :)

[Tom_Willis]

If it "landed" in YOUR living room, I think it will be REPO'ed in very short order....and I don't think those repo guys are any more cordial than any other repo guys !!! :)

Yes but why would they want it back? Easier to replace it then clean the brown stain off it.

[Steve0]

not sure if this map will show up right, but its directly across the canyon from the apartment I just moved out of next to Nobel athletic center. My ex still lives next to it.

just a couple blocks from her place.. scary.

I wish a jet would crash into my ex's place (no i am not bitter or anything:D)

[dezertgirl]

I wish a jet would crash into my ex's place (no i am not bitter or anything:D)
:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

WOW!!

Mike it WOULD make a cool Lemons seat... find it !!! LOL :p

[michael_loomis]

Yes but why would they want it back? Easier to replace it then clean the brown stain off it.

true, but thats the pilots seat.. the second seat with no pilot is stain free!

[sidekicker]

who got crashed in the house

[OffroadExit]

Unfortunately 2 bodies have been found in one of the houses. Now they are reporting a possible 3rd body. All fatal. The pilot is recovering at a local hospital.

[DA Rhino]

It happened about a 1/2 mile from my office, I went over there to check it out right after it happened.

This was way to close! We are in the flight path for Miramar.

I hope no more people are found.

DAR

[Let's go off roading]

My friend lives across from the canyon.

The news said a Mother and Grandmother and two kids were in the house.

[drsnutz]

My friend lives across from the canyon.

The news said a Mother and Grandmother and two kids were in the house.
first of all my thoughts and prayers go out to all those involved, second i don't understand the air traffic controllers and those in command decisions to land the aircraft at miramar. i'm a retired air force mechanic and feel i have some qualification to address this issue as i've had the unpleasant experience of not only seeing crash sights but actually watching airplanes crash and imho none of them have been cool to watch or view. my question is this, the pilot reported probs soon after take off, i understand that returning to the aircraft carrier was not an option as landing on an carrier with one engine is risky, but why did they not redirect him to north island where if he had a catastrophic failure he could dump it in the ocean instead of a neighborhood. i don't understand. and what's more important, a 35,000,000 plane or someones family or life. my kudos to the pilot for doing the best he could do in a bad situation and he was very brave for sticking with it as long as he could and my heart goes out to him as the first thing he asked was " was anyone hurt in the house". as a retired viet nam vet this crash bothers me a lot as i feel the whole thing could have been avoided by better decisision making by the higher ups. again god bless and keep those involved.

[OffroadExit]

The 4th body- an 18 month old was found in the wreckage this morning.

[fishd00d]

Sucks big time. You know the pilot did everything he could to save it or put it down in a field im sure. By seeing how close he landed to the crash it looks like he waited till almost the last second to eject. There was a big field right by where the crash was and also big sides of the freeway that was just all bush right passed where it crashed, I bet thats what he was trying to aim for.

[LTL220]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20081209-1348-bn09jetdown2.html

Saw the father on a TV interview...said he holds no grudge against the pilot, hopes he is not suffering because of this tragedy and called the pilot, 'one of Americas treasures' that keeps the country safe.

I can not imagine the BIG HEART this man has that can forgive in such a short time. His wife and children brutally taken from him. Yet his thoughts are with the pilot that he is not suffering. WOW

Blessings to Dong Yun Yoon and the Yoon family.

Blessing to the pilot.

I'm still choked up about this

[Let's go off roading]

Very sad news.

My thoughts and Prayers to the family and everyone who lives in the neighbor where this accident happened.

[fishd00d]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/09/military.jet.crash/index.html

A Korean immigrant who lost his wife, two children and mother-in-law when a Marine Corps jet slammed into the family's house said Tuesday he did not blame the pilot, who ejected and survived.

"Please pray for him not to suffer from this accident," a distraught Dong Yun Yoon told reporters gathered near the site of Monday's crash of an F/A-18D jet in San Diego's University City community.

"He is one of our treasures for the country," Yoon said in accented English punctuated by long pauses while he tried to maintain his composure.

"I don't blame him. I don't have any hard feelings. I know he did everything he could," said Yoon, flanked by members of San Diego's Korean community, relatives and members from the family's church.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the pilot ejected moments before the crash and landed in a tree. Jason Widmer said he talked to the pilot, who said he had tried to steer the jet from the homes and into a brushy canyon.

"He was pretty shook up and pretty concerned if he had killed anyone," Widmer told San Diego 6. "He had seen his bird go into a house."

[Wilson]

first of all my thoughts and prayers go out to all those involved, second i don't understand the air traffic controllers and those in command decisions to land the aircraft at miramar. i'm a retired air force mechanic and feel i have some qualification to address this issue as i've had the unpleasant experience of not only seeing crash sights but actually watching airplanes crash and imho none of them have been cool to watch or view. my question is this, the pilot reported probs soon after take off, i understand that returning to the aircraft carrier was not an option as landing on an carrier with one engine is risky, but why did they not redirect him to north island where if he had a catastrophic failure he could dump it in the ocean instead of a neighborhood. i don't understand. and what's more important, a 35,000,000 plane or someones family or life. my kudos to the pilot for doing the best he could do in a bad situation and he was very brave for sticking with it as long as he could and my heart goes out to him as the first thing he asked was " was anyone hurt in the house". as a retired viet nam vet this crash bothers me a lot as i feel the whole thing could have been avoided by better decisision making by the higher ups. again god bless and keep those involved.

My thoughts and prayers go out the families involved as well.

As always with any aircraft accident, there will be an in-depth investigation into the specifics. That will include the whole decision making chain of events in addition to the mechanical chain of events. It's too early to speculate about any of the details, including why the pilot was attempting to land at Miramar rather than another airfield. As a pilot with over 13,000 hours of flight time and an ALPA flight safety representative, I would suggest that the pilot made what he felt were the most appropriate decisions possible given the information available to him. I would also suggest that he alone made the decisions. What started out as a very manageable situation could have deteriorated rapidly and unexpectedly, leaving him without options. I submit that the pilot believed returning to Miramar was safe, otherwise he would have made another choice. It's only after things unexpectedly spiraled out of his control that this choice seems questionable.

[michael_loomis]

Very sad indeed. What a good person. You know the pilot did EVERYTHING in his power to keep the jet from crashing into a residential area.. down to the last second.

[TreyP]

My thoughts and prayers go out the families involved as well.

As always with any aircraft accident, there will be an in-depth investigation into the specifics. That will include the whole decision making chain of events in addition to the mechanical chain of events. It's too early to speculate about any of the details, including why the pilot was attempting to land at Miramar rather than another airfield. As a pilot with over 13,000 hours of flight time and an ALPA flight safety representative, I would suggest that the pilot made what he felt were the most appropriate decisions possible given the information available to him. I would also suggest that he alone made the decisions. What started out as a very manageable situation could have deteriorated rapidly and unexpectedly, leaving him without options. I submit that the pilot believed returning to Miramar was safe, otherwise he would have made another choice. It's only after things unexpectedly spiraled out of his control that this choice seems questionable.

+1 It's always hard to second guess the situation. Even the inquiries seem to always point to to the pilot. But the situation and last second decisions are always subject to scrutiny. A double flame out on these birds is rare. The inquiry will be interesting. Too bad I don't have a subscription to Aviation Week anymore.

I feel for the family and the pilot. Bad situation all around.

[AzBajaman]

Very touching.....Prayers go out to all the families and people affected......

[Havasubud]

I was just on CBS's website reading the comments from viewers, and the complete ignorance of some people is mind boggling. The pilot is the son-in-law of the president of my wifes company. I am sure he is feeling bad about this. When an aircrafts engines fail, the plane turns into a huge brick. Falls like a dead bird. People complain about the planes flying around. They don't understand that the base was around alot longer than the neighborhoods. Don't know what this country is coming to.

[Negrete 5-1600]

My office is two to three blocks north of Miramar Rd (edge of the base).

I just might be working more from home, and in the field, and not go to the office much.:rolleyes:;)

[Vtr_Racing]

A little more on this very very tragic incident and I think this family and those of the pilot could use our prayers. I juct couldnt imagine.......

updated 1:28 p.m. CT, Wed., Dec. 10, 2008
SAN DIEGO - A Korean immigrant whose wife, two young daughters and mother-in-law perished when a military jet crashed into his house says he doesn't blame the pilot who safely ejected.

The Marine Corps fighter plane was returning from an offshore training mission Monday when it clipped a tree and slammed into homes about two miles from its base. 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, 60, who was visiting from South Korea to help care for her daughter's newborn.

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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.

No hard feelings
Young Mi Yoon's husband defended the pilot Tuesday.

"I don't have any hard feelings," Dong Yun Yoon, 37, told reporters near the rubble where his home once stood. "I know he did everything he could."

"Please pray for him not to suffer from this accident," Dong Yun Yoon said. "I know he is one of our treasured for the country."

Dong Yun Yoon, who left Korea in 1989 and became a U.S. citizen, wondered aloud how he would persevere after losing his family.

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

Meanwhile, 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 the San Diego neighborhood.

Power failure
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.

Slideshow


Deadly jet crash
A military jet crashes into a San Diego neighborhood.
more photos



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.

Neighbors said the family of Korean 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."

[Steve0]

My heart goes out to Mr. Yoon. I couldnt begin to imagine the hurt he is feeling.