Holy crap!

This happened about 3 hours ago, I was downtown and missed it. I used to work about a mile from here, and my house is about 5 miles away. They say he was clipping tree tops on his way down and trying to make it into the gorge, he missed by about 100 feet. Says 2 people killed so far, probably inside the house.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/me ... 208-1356-bn08planed3.html



UNIVERSITY CITY – A military fighter pilot ejected safely from his plane moments before it crashed into this residential San Diego neighborhood shortly before noon Monday, sparking several house fires.

Two people are now confirmed dead on the ground

The aircraft was a two-seat F/A-18D carrying a single pilot from Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101, part of the Miramar-based 3rd Marine Air Wing, said Capt. Stephen Paap, a Marine Corps spokesman.

The student pilot was en route from the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, operating in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, Paap said. He was taken to a clinic at nearby Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

The training squadron includes both Navy and Marine Corps aviators, Paap said. He said he didn't know which service the pilot represents or how many flight hours he has accumulated.

Witness Dennis Connor, 50, said he was on a hill in the neighborhood when he saw the saw plane coming in at a 45-degree angle.

The jet hit the pavement on Cather Avenue near Huggins Street, just short of Rose Canyon open space and Interstate 805, he said. The impact sent debris flying between two houses, setting three of them on fire. He said two houses were destroyed by the flames.

“He was trying to get to the canyon,” Connor said. “He held on as long as could. At the last second, the pilot parachuted out.”

He said the plane, which had clipped treetops, was just was seconds from the ground when the pilot ejected.

The plane was smashed into pieces, with a turbine from an engine the only part that Connor said he could distinguish. A box of electronics was left atop some shrubbery.

“Everything was just mangled aluminum,” Connor said.

Pia Mantovani-Sud was inside her house at 4411 Cather when she heard the plane crash across the street.

“I heard a boom boom boom. ... I came out and saw my neighbor's house on fire,” she said, adding that she did not know if anyone was home at the time.

Authorities concerned about possible toxic fumes evacuated an area bounded by Huggins, Lipmann and Weller streets.

Thick, black smoke could be seen rising from an area north of Governor Drive and west of Interstate 805, according to eyewitnesses. That smoke turned white as the firefighting effort began.

Shelby Lovitt, a senior at University City High School, said she heard a loud boom just before noon and then saw the plane crash. She also saw the pilot eject with a parachute. She ran out into a field and saw black smoke and flames.
The school was put on lockdown and no one was allowed to leave, she said.

Michael Nugent, 16, a junior at the high school, was eating lunch in the campus parking lot when he heard a loud pop, looked up and saw the pilot eject.

Nicole Harris, a teacher at Doyle Elementary School, was teaching a physical education class outside when she saw the pilot eject. Even before he bailed, she sensed that something was wrong.

“The plane was really low and it was quiet,” Harris said. “Usually, they're so loud, I have to stop teaching.”

Massive traffic jams snarled traffic in the area, making it difficult for firefighters and police to reach the neighborhood, according to witnesses.

That's awful, I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully there'll be no additional victims.

Wow! Mojo to all involved!

wow..I saw this on the news....horrible.

Long as it wasn't this guy with my Christmas goodies uh HUH.




Get a stick and some marshmallows!

3 dead on the ground

Quote:

Unbelievable.

Any word on the cause?

MY job involves me flying in a Helicopter or KA200 twin engine airplane. There is a never a time that I think it could be my last. Unfortunately, the one on the ground were the ones killed. So sad to hear.

Looks to me like the F18 pilot was coming in from offshore to land, and was 2 miles from base, he lost his engines at some point and was coasting trying to make it to the ravine, and ejected at the last second.

Some rumors floating around that his aircraft was disabled while still over the ocean and he was trying to nurse it back to base!

He landed in the trees behind a high school, about 1/4 mile from the crash site.