Anything yet to indicate cause, etc. for the tragic jet crash in San Diego. I am already hearing judgmental critiques of efforts to get the plane out over the ocean and the pilot's "casual appeareance" using his cell phone after his parachute landing. It would be nice to have facts to be sure the record is straight.

Here's some news coverage:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20081209-1108-bn09jetdown.html

Condolances to all involved.

That is always a chance when a pilot punches out. I have read/heard of many similar instances where the pilot tried to point the dieing bird in a safe direction. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't...

You can read about the level of professionalism required of Naval Aviators (Marine pilots are Naval Aviators too) in their safety publication: APPROACH magazine.

http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/media/approach/default.htm

The material can be quite technical and maybe baffling if you aren't a pilot or interested in learning the terminology, but you can get a sense of what the pace of events can be in emergencies.

I'm sure the developer got a good deal on cheap land under the flight path to the runway......

Next will be the obligatory call to close the airfield.

Check Yahoo maps for Cather Ave. Looks like they are really close to runway centerline at about 2 miles from threshold. Bad place to build. Noisy place to live (at best!)

The developer probably had to bulldoze away wreckage in several locations in order to put up the houses.

A very good friend of mine has a story - why he never met his Dad. West Germany, late 50s, early 60s (must have been like 1960), his Dad comining back from a recon mission in (I believe a RF-101, might have been a F104) - lost the engine. He has 2 choices, punch out, but the plane was heading for the local grade school, or stay with it, trying to get it away from the school, and punching out "late", and hoping the seat was good enough (remember, bang seats in those days were NOT 0/0 seats - His dad didn't make it, but the airplane crashed across the street in a field...

Lots of misinfo out there and a lot of folks saying the pilot should have punched out over the water. San Diego Union-Trib prolly has the best sources http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20081209-1443-bn09jetdown3.html

The plane was flying on one engine and had been for 100 miles after RTB from vicinity of USS Abe Lincoln. 2 miles short of Miramar -- low, slow, gear down -- the good engine died. FA-18's don't do well without power, the glide ratio sucks and the controls don't work -- so the pilot punched out.

Personal opinion: they could have elected to land at NAS North Island 11 miles south -- slightly closer to Lincoln and right on the beach. FA-18's land there routinely so it would be no big deal and much safer with an iffy aircraft.

OTOH, if a plane is flying okay on one engine (assumption -- was it really flying okay?), why take it to an airfield where it will be a PITA to fix when you can land it at homebase, replace the bad engine and get the plane flying again. I suppose those are issues that will be considered and discussed at length in the coming investigation. BTW, NAS North Island has a Navy FA-18 rework facility; they can fix them there too.

That said, I wasn't in the decision loop and don't have all the facts.

It flew right over my school... my teacehr ever stopped class and said "that doesnt sound right" at the same time i turned to my friends and said "that plain is waaaay too low". Some of my firends actually saw it.

Francis Gary Powers, of U-2 fame, died in a copter crash, at the last minute he chose to miss a bunch of kids in a field while autorotating down, crashed and burned instead. His choice...

Yeah - takes a pair of stone ones to make that decision

Just watched a family member of the victims on CNN, obviously traumatized by the loss, but telling the pilot to not worry about the accident, "he is one of our treasures", very touching from someone that is suffering through so much. Kudos to him.

That was the husband/father/son-in-law of the deceased. Immigrants such as Don Yoon should also be considered "treasures". Sad all around.

If blame must be assigned, let's start with the local officials who allowed fairly high density residential development directly under MCAS Miramar's flight approaches. Aviation there predates WWII. The risk was known.

Encroachment of imprudent development upon military airbases is an ongoing problem that is increasingly impeding military readiness. I grew up under Moffett Field's flight path, and as a kid could lie on my back in my yard and count the rivets on P-3's flying over many times per day. That facility dated back to the airship era. Yet people who voluntarily moved in under its existing flight paths complained about the noise.

We are having the same problem at Eglin AFB, where the mayor of a local town that pretty much owes it's existence to the base is suing over noise from the new F-35s. Here in Pensacola, Florida, the "Cradle of Naval Aviation," we even have people who complain about the Blue Angels' practice shows.

In my experience, the military bends over backwards to be a good neighbor. But if you move in near an existing military base, you shouldn't [censored] about military operations; you've assumed that risk. More importantly, local officials should not allow developers to build where such conflicts are likely to be created.

Jeff

In 1989 An unmanned mig crashed in Belgium. The plane made a serious long flight on his own.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Belgian_MiG-23_crash

Most important in such an event is to be aware of all kind of dangers. Even if the plane is not armed, there maybe hydrazine in the aircraft to power the epu.

I think that blame is easier than understanding.

The one lesson I learned from this was I am a lesser man than Dong Yun Yoon.


"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.


and yes, i am sobbing like a little girl right now with my 10 month old asleep in my lap...

It's sad that professionalism and courage can be so easily mistaken for a "casual" attitude. Presumably, people expected the pilot to be sobbing into his cell-phone as he reported in ...

The developers pay off the county commissioners and all is well.

Where all the flooding happened last year in Lewis Co., WA, the county commissioners are authorizing filling in more of the flood plain for more businesses to be built. When the next flood comes, the water will go higher and further. Their justification? "It's not illegal."

It isn't illegal because they don't want it to be illegal. If they cared about loss of life and property, it would have been illegal for a long time.

Follow the money.

Sue

Yoon is truly a great American, and a man of tremendous character.

Jeff

Hmm, sounds a lot like NO flood control failure. They knew it was inevitable, they just chose not to do anything about it until after the fact, when they could put their hand out and expect the rest of us to fix it for them.

Saw live report on TV, pilot wasn't talking on HIS cell phone ...he used one provided by a paramedic that responded. At least thats what I heard ....also commentator said pilot was very concerned about what the plane did after he ejected and that he'd stayed late as he could and couldn't make an open area.
Sure he could've augered in with the plane, but what would that solve ?
I choose to believe he punched out as late as he dared. I have a healthy respect for aviators ...despite the jet jock image projected by some ...these guys have no desire to injure anyone, but bad guys.
AS to whether he should of done this or that ...we won't be privy to anything but rumor and conjecture. And its unllikely that he made any decisions alone....except the one to try and save his own ass at the last possible moment. One can only do so much with a plane with no engines ... which become more like a rock with wings at some point afte rthat last engine quits.
And while my sympathies go out the injured parties on the ground I commend the father for stepping up early in this personal (for him) nightmare to even mention the pilot.
That guy gets my vote and I hope there's a way to help his patch his life back together and nurture him thru this.

As close as his parachute came down relative to the crash, I'd speculate he came very close to being part of the crash site-- seconds from impact. There's an image at http://media.signonsandiego.com/img/phot...2edc6288efb17ce which shows just how close the parachute was to the crash site. The aircraft canopy also came down in the neighborhood, coming to rest on the fence between two homes.

My understanding is he rode down to 40-50 feet before he got out. And longer and he was going to be part of the crash scene.

From that graphic, it looks like the aircraft almost made it into an open space. My understanding is that one of the problems with naval aviators is getting them to eject soon enough. It looks like this guy cut it pretty darn close.

He's also a victim of this tragic event. I can only imagine the feelings he must be going through, but I have a slightly better idea of the process he is about to endure as thee investigation proceeds. He's in for a tough time on several levels. Mr. Yoon's gracious words must be little comfort, kind as they were.

Jeff

I agree. As a former USAF mishap investigator, I have worked at all levels of the safety investigation process. I have dealt with crewmembers who didn't have the impact on others that he has and know what they have gone through just trying to deal with their actions in the loss of an aircraft. He will be dealing with this a very long time.