Two dead, two missing in University City jet crash
By Angelica Martinez and Debbi Baker
UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM
and Steve Liewer
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
3:15 p.m. December 8, 2008
UNIVERSITY CITY – Two people were killed and two are still missing when a Marine Corps fighter-bomber crashed on a residential street Monday, sparking fires that destroyed two homes and sent thick black smoke billowing through the neighborhood, prompting evacuations due to concerns about possibly toxic fumes.
The victims are a mother and child, and the missing pair are a grandmother and another child, all from the same house, according to Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. Authorities are still trying to confirm their identities, Luque said.
The pilot, who had been trying to land the ailing plane at nearby Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, ejected safely moments before the crash, escaping with minor injuries.
UNIVERSITY CITY – Delivering the mail in the 4400 block of Cather Avenue Monday, Bill Dusting heard a loud “pop! pop!” His first thought – that the sounds were gunshots – was worrisome.
The reality, though, was terrifying.
That sound? A pilot ejecting from an out-of-control Marine Corps jet that was headed straight for the 48-year-old mailman.
UNIVERSITY CITY – Three people were killed when a Marine Corps fighter-bomber crashed on a residential street Monday, sparking fires that destroyed two homes and sent thick black smoke billowing through the neighborhood, prompting evacuations due to concerns about possibly toxic fumes.
The pilot, who had been trying to land the ailing plane at nearby Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, ejected safely moments before the crash, escaping with minor injuries. The jet crashed on Cather Avenue around noon.
Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, said that three people on the ground were killed in a home on Cather Avenue near Huggins Street. Authorities are still trying to confirm their identities, Luque said.
POLITICIANS & DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON
A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.
I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.” - Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party, 1944
Here in San Jose we have folks whining about the noise after they built/bought houses in the flight path of SJC. Thank goodness there have been no crashes.
Miramar NAS, or at least the Naval Fighter Weapon School, was established in 1969, though it was occupied by both the Marines and the Navy during the 1940s. I'll bet that most of the houses now occupied in University City weren't there at the time.
"Luck is where you find it—but to find it you have to look for it" -- Eugene Fluckey. Blogspot picsig
FelixEstrella wrote:Here in San Jose we have folks whining about the noise after they built/bought houses in the flight path of SJC. Thank goodness there have been no crashes.
Miramar NAS, or at least the Naval Fighter Weapon School, was established in 1969, though it was occupied by both the Marines and the Navy during the 1940s. I'll bet that most of the houses now occupied in University City weren't there at the time.
even safe bet, very few people have actually lived there since the 1940's
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.” - Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party, 1944
POLITICIANS & DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON
A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.
I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.” - Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party, 1944
I'm not usually one to second guess these things, but I'm surprised the pilot punched out over a populated area. With the word about who all were in the house the plane landed on, I'm sure the pilot's wishing he'd rode it all the way in.
"If it ain't the Devil's Music, you ain't doin' it right." - Chris Thomas King
"When liberal democracies collapse, someone comes along who promises to make the trains run on time if we load the right people into them." - Tam K.
Cybrludite wrote:I'm not usually one to second guess these things, but I'm surprised the pilot punched out over a populated area. With the word about who all were in the house the plane landed on, I'm sure the pilot's wishing he'd rode it all the way in.
from the witness reports, it is apparent that he held on as long as possible... i am guessing that he was struggling to avoid that high school and trying to get the plane over to the canyon just beyond the houses he hit.
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.” - Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party, 1944
If he was low and close enough for the postman referenced in the earlier story to hear the ejection sequence as a series of distinct "pops", then he was just about too late in punching out. I agree that it looks like he held on as long as possible in order to minimize the danger on the ground. Riding it in all the way would have done nothing to save those in the impact zone.
...even before I read MHI, my response to seeing a poster for the stars of the latest Twilight movies was "I see 2 targets and a collaborator".
Fourth body found in home at site of military jet crash
By Debbi Baker, Angelica Martinez and Kristina Davis
UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM
2:43 p.m. December 9, 2008
SAN DIEGO – The body of a fourth family member killed in Monday's fiery jet crash – a 15-month-old girl – was found Tuesday near the entrance of the home where her mother, grandmother and sister also died.
Aided by cadaver dogs from the Sheriff's Department, San Diego firefighters found the body of Grace Yoon about 12:30 p.m. following a 2½-hour search through the charred remains of the University City home, said Maurice Luque, a San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman.
Searchers had to dig through the collapsed second floor of the fire-gutted two-story home on Cather Avenue to find Grace, who would have been 16 months old two days before Christmas.
POLITICIANS & DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON
A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.
I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
