FA 18 Hornet
Digital News Report- An F/A-18D plane crashed into a University City residential neighborhood near I-805 and Genessee shortly before noon on Monday December 8th, killing four and destroying two homes. Several other homes were damaged nearby. The jet was en route to Miramar airport when it’s engines failed. The pilot ejected moments before impact, landing in a nearby tree.
The pilot told Steve Diamond, a retired naval aviator who found the pilot in the tree, that after the pilot lost power in one engine, he tried to get the jet to Miramar on the single working engine. The Federal Aviation Administration said he was in communication with military air traffic controllers before the jet crashed about two miles from the airfield.
Searchers have found four fatalities at the crash site. The bodies were identified by a family pastor, Rev. Kevin Lee of the Korean United Methodist Church, to San Diego 6 News as 36-year-old Young Mi (Lee) Yoon, her two-month-old daughter Rachel, her 15-month old daughter Grace and Young Mi’s mother who was visiting from Korea, Suk Im Kim. Young Mi’s husband was at work when the jet crashed.
“We don’t know exactly what was the cause of the problem he was having,” Marine Corps Col. Chris O’Conner told reporters. He added that they, “will be conducting a thorough safety investigation to find that out.”
Six houses in the neighborhood — three on Cather Avenue and three on Huggins Street — will be temporarily uninhabitable due to damage and power- supply problems, SDPD Capt. Shelley Zimmerman said.
View Larger Map
|
