FA-18 Crashes in San Diego Neighborhood

[PPI Brian]

Breaking news: a Marine Corps FA-18 Hornet experiencing engine trouble went down around 12 noon just west of University High School. At least two homes in Universtity City were completely destroyed. The pilot ejected safely, but there is no news of injuries or fatalities on the ground. Hopefully nobody was hurt. Here's a live news feed:

http://www.10news.com/video/15012960/index.html

[PPI Tim]

It made national news.
It looks like it was a training mission
Haven't heard if the jet was armed ordinance.

[PPI Brian]

No, the Marines don't have live ordnance on training missions. The pilot ejected, but he stayed with the aircraft as long as he could to keep from crashing into the High School. The Medical Examiner said in a news conference that there were fatalities on the ground. People are speculating that a young mother and her two young children were in one of the houses that were destroyed.

[PPI Tim]

That sounds like a few dozen therapy sessions for the pilot.

[PPI Tracy]

That sounds like a few dozen therapy sessions for the pilot.

More like suicide watch.  This man is going to be destroyed with what happened.  I hope the military gets him the help he will need.  I'm sure he will never be the same again.

Some of you may remember the crash that happened in Mission Viejo last year when a semi plowed into a mini van with 3 little children and their mother and grandmother inside.  It happened on the 5 fwy.  All three children were under 5.  All three perished.  They have had the driver of the semi, who also has young children, on suicide watch several times.  I'm not sure of his whereabouts now. 

Truthfully, I don't know how someone would come back from something like this.  Even though it was an accident in both instances, how do you put your life back together knowing you were responsible for an event like this?  I don't know if it is possible.

[PPI Jason]

Tracy,

You're absolutely right. I was just discussing this with my wife. I could just imagine that poor guy sitting there and blaming himself over and over again for what happened. Right now he is probably "Monday morning quarterbacking" every decision made that day. He probably blames himself for the one engine failing. Then he probably blames himself, maybe, for not ditching over the ocean eventhough it's a 40 million dollar airplane that I'm sure his superiors wanted him to get to an airstrip. Then, I'm sure he's probably replaying every minute of the whole flight thinking to himself, "I should have had more altitude," or "I should have throttled down here" or "I should have pushed the engine there." Then I'm sure he blames himself for the second engine going out. He probably blames himself for not aiming the plane perfectly into the empty canyon even though everyone knows an F-18 without any engines has all the ballistic qualities of a $40 million brick. And then, after all that, I'm sure part of him deep down inside wishes he had just stayed with the plane.

God it really sucks for these young guys. I had a guy come up to me on the street today and ask, "So, do you think that pilot will get in trouble? Bet he was a rookie."  First off, the Marines don't let "rookies" fly F-18s. Everyone of those pilots is one of the best pilots in the world. Second, the kind of trouble that pilot would get into if it was determined, after an investigation, that he was negligent in some way would be nothing compared to the trouble he is heaping on himself right now. I really hope the Marines get him some good people to help him out. Nobody deserves to feel that kind of guilt for serving our country.

Jason

[PPI Tracy]

I was listening to KLOS - Mark & Brian this morning on the way into work.  They had a news blurb that was saying that the man who lost his wife, 2 daughters, (one was only 13 months old) and his mother in law, stated that he "had no hard feelings towards the pilot".  He said he "knew that the pilot did everything he could possibly do to avert the plane from crashing where it did".  He also said, "it was an accident, no more no less". 

After hearing that, I was nothing short of amazed. 

[PPI Glenn]

The youngest was 2 months old.

I was listening to KLOS - Mark & Brian this morning on the way into work.  They had a news blurb that was saying that the man who lost his wife, 2 daughters, (one was only 13 months old) and his mother in law, stated that he "had no hard feelings towards the pilot".  He said he "knew that the pilot did everything he could possibly do to avert the plane from crashing where it did".  He also said, "it was an accident, no more no less". 

After hearing that, I was nothing short of amazed. 

[PPI Tracy]

Oh my God, Glenn.  The whole thing is such a tragedy of unimaginable proportions.

[PPI Brian]

My heart goes out to the Yoon family. They showed the father, Dong Yun Yoon on the news this morning, being escorted by friends and family to the crater that used to be his home. He was almost unable to walk. It was heartbreaking. In the interview he expressed no ill will toward the pilot, only grief for the loss of his wife, his young children and his mother. What a terrible tragedy.

Our members who maintain and operate the F-18 flight simulators at Miramar said they know the pilot well, and they said he was a very experienced pilot. The Marine Corps and the FAA have been reviewing all of his training records and all the various training scenarios that he logged in the sims. Although the investigation is ongoing, it is obvious that both of the F-18's engines failed. Without power, these aircraft fly like rocks.  

Here's a link to the story:

http://www.10news.com/news/18231819/detail.html