Yeah I heard that plane over my house and thought at the time wow that is really loud and sounds pretty unusual for it to be flying overheard down here. Terrible loss and scary because it could have happened anywhere.
Friends of ours were close enough to see the pilot eject and later drove to the scene. There’s still all kinds of discussion about why the pilot was alone and why he wasn’t directed to land somewhere else. I guess all the other options would have been more even more difficult and dangerous. I feel terribly sorry for him.
Regarding where he was attempting to land. I don’t know this for a fact, but would assume Miramar was the closest facility designated for such emergency situations.
I thought that was where he was aiming for in the first place. Or was he supposed to return to the ship?
A coworker read in the paper this morning that the emergency happened after he left the ship, and that he was directed to land at MCAS Miramar. This makes sense because a carrier has a pretty short runway, and if the aircraft is still flyable it’s better to get it to a land base if one is close.
There are two large airports in San Diego. Lindbergh is the commercial airport, and MCAS Miramar is the military one. (There are GA airports around as well, but not really suited to crippled fighter/bombers.)
I read a story that the aircraft had experienced engine failure in one engine and was returning to base when the second engine failed. I think that was from a congresscritter’s office, on the condition of anonymity since they were not supposed to talk. Take that with however large a grain of salt you wish. Also three dead, including an infant, and one child still missing. The squadron the plane and pilot were in was a training squadron, where pilots go before they are assigned to an operational squadron, so this guy could have been a relatively inexperienced pilot. I am not a fighter pilot, but I would guess once you lose both engines, things like electrical power and hydraulic pumps don’t work for very much longer and the plane begins to act like a fast moving brick.
Yep, that’s where he was headed but couldn’t quite make it- I think he fell (so to speak) about 2 miles short.
There is also NAS North Island.
I heard the same thing about flying on one engine, and I also heard that it was a trainee pilot. I have no idea if those are actually correct statements, but it’s definitely what was coming out yesterday.
:smack: I completely forgot about that. And an uncle was stationed there!
I feel bad for the pilot. I have read that the choice to eject is up to the pilot. Seeing how he ejected at what sounds like a couple hundred feet which I would think would be dangerous. It sounds like he almost rode his jet into the ground.
This is ridiculous:
Reached for comment? What the fuck? Leave him the fuck alone! What kind of asshole is going to call up this guy for a “comment”? How would that even go?
Soooo… your wife is dead, your children are dead, your mother is dead and the home and memories you had of them all burnt to a crisp… got any comments?
This morning’s San Diego Union/Tribune states that the pilot waited as long as possible (looking for a relatively safe place for the jet to crash) before ejecting.
I just spoke with my sister–her granddaughter’s family live 16 houses away from the crash site! They are staying with her mother (my sister’s daughter) right now.
Here is a link to a pretty comprehensive article on the crash:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/la-me-jetcrash10-2008dec10,0,7467805.story
He was on a training op from the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast when he lost his first engine. He was directed to attempt an emergency landing at Miramar. Didn’t make it of course. Shame they didn’t direct him to ditch in the ocean.
I dunno.
How common is it for both engines to fail (without both failing at the same moment)?
He flew for some distance before the second engine quit. (He almost made it. just 2 more miles to go…)
Todays update:
Good Lord that story is heartbreaking. Look at the final comment:
“I don’t know what to tell him,” Yoon said. “I don’t know how he’ll ever forgive me.”
I cannot even begin to imagine what this man is going through.
That part made me cry. He’s worried his father-in-law will blame him. Yet he does not blame the pilot.