F-18 Military Jet Crashes Into San Diego Neighborhood Killing 3, 1 Missing (Photos)

An F-18 military fighter jet was preparing to land at a Marine base and crashed in a highly populated San Diego neighborhood on Monday, killing three people and destroying three homes. Read more about the F-18 San Diego crash below.

The pilot of the F/A-18D Hornet jet ejected from the aircraft safely, according to a statement from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

Police have reported that three people on the ground were killed. Fire officials said the deaths were at a home where two children, a mother and a grandmother were believed to be inside. Officials have not reported exactly who died yet. Another person is said to be unaccounted for at this time.

Three homes were destroyed after the fiery crash. Even after 3 1/2 hours after the crash, there was still active white smoke coming from the wreckage, reports Fire Department spokesman Maurice Luque.

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About 20 homes were evacuated, and it was unclear when residents would be allowed to return, Sanders said.

An eyewitness named Jordan Houston was looking out his back window three blocks from the crash when he saw a plane flying much lower than normal. A second parachute with an empty seat ejected from the aircraft and then he heard an explosion.

A mushroom-shaped flame went up, said Houston, 25., who skateboarded toward the scene and found a pilot walking around.

As a truck backed over the flaming debris, the driver jumped out and yelled, “I just filled up my gas tank.” Shortly after that statement the truck exploded.

The plane crashed near Interstate 805 around noon about two miles from the base. A large, busy area of the city was blocked off to traffic, creating a long backup on the freeway.

Miramar spokeswoman 1st Lt. Katheryn Putnam said the pilot was in stable condition at a naval medical facility in San Diego. The crash occurred as the pilot was returning from training on the carrier USS Lincoln, off the San Diego coast.

Putnam does not yet know what caused the crash. Investigators will review information from a recorder on the fighter that documents flight data. There was no indication the pilot was using alcohol or drugs, Putnam said.

The remains of the jet could barely be seen amidst the smoke and fire, but a piece of cockpit sat on the roof of one home. A parachute lay in a canyon below the neighborhood.

The middle-class neighborhood of half-million-dollar homes smelled like a brush fire. Ambulances, fire trucks and police cars choked the streets.

A Navy bomb disposal truck was at the site, and Marines were talking with police. Authorities had onlookers leave the area because of the toxic smoke.

Steve Krasner, who lives a few blocks away, said he first thought the shaking generated by the crash was an earthquake.

Krasner was in his kitchen when he heard two loud explosions and looked outside, then heard a larger blast.

“The house shook; the ground shook. It was like I was frozen in my place,” Krasner said.

“It was bigger than any earthquake I ever felt,” he said. “The flames were billowing overhead.”

Ben Dishman, 55, said he heard what sounded like “a loud gunshot” followed by an explosion.

“It was quite violent,” said Dishman, resting on his couch after back surgery. “I hear the jets from Miramar all the time. I often worry that one of them will hit one of these homes. It was inevitable. I feel very lucky.”

The F-18 is a supersonic jet used widely in the Navy and Marine Corps and by the Navy’s stunt-flying Blue Angels. An F-18 crashed at Miramar in November 2006, but the pilot ejected safely.

Miramar base is well-known for its role in the movie “Top Gun,” is home to some 10,000 Marines.

Our thoughts go out to those that lost their lives and homes in the crash.

Images: AP/news

Source: news

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