SAN DIEGO — A military jet crash that resulted in the death of four people and the destruction of two San Diego homes was "clearly avoidable," military officials said in a press conference Tuesday.

"The tragedy that occurred on the 8th of December was caused by mechanical malfunctions on two different engines ... which presented the pilot with a complex emergency compounded by well-intended but incorrect decisions which ultimately resulted in the fuel starvation of the aircraft's remaining engine.," said Col. John Rupp, operations officer for the 3D Marine Aircraft Wing in San Diego.



Among those incorrect decisions, Rupp said, was the decision by maintenance crews to allow the aircraft to fly despite reports of a problem with its fuel flow; the decision by the pilot to try to land at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego rather than the nearby Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado despite losing function of the jet's right engine; and a series of miscommunications and bad assumptions by the pilot and officers directing him that eventually caused the left engine to "flame out."

Upon realizing he could no longer control the aircraft the pilot ejected safely.

The plane went on to crash into the University City neighborhood killing four members of a Korean family in their home — Young Mi Yoon, 36; her daughters Grace, 15 months, and Rachel, 2 months; and her mother Suk Im Kim, 60 — and incinerating two homes and damaging three others.

Officials in Washington, D.C., said Tuesday that 13 Marine Corps personnel have been disciplined for errors in connection with the crash. Service officials told members of Congress that four Marine Corps officers have been relieved of duty for directing the Hornet to fly over the residential area. Nine other military personnel received lesser reprimands. Officials said the pilot should have been told to fly over San Diego Bay and land at Coronado.

Rupp said the pilot stayed in the aircraft "until the possible minute" and tried — and almost succeeded — to divert the aircraft to a nearby canyon "in an attempt to save lives."
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Despite mistakes made, Assistant Wing Commander Major Gen. Randolphe Alles said, "There is no evidence of criminal wrong doing."

Rupp said the military has made various adjustments, including the implementation of new maintenance procedures and new training procedures, in an effort to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again.

I can't count how many times I've been part of that same decision chain in Marine aviation. On more than one occassion we advised the pilot that if the engine was still making power, put it on the ground anywhere. We'll come and get it and him. Not making power? then eject. Rules are different on multi-engine aircraft though.

UP DATE





The pilot in the F/A-18 crash that killed four family members in a San Diego neighborhood has been cleared to resume flying, the Marine Corps said today.

Lt. Dan Neubauer has been put on "probationary status" and will resume training. The decision was made by Lt. Gen. George Trautman III, deputy commandant for aviation, after a review of the details of the Dec. 8 crash by senior officers.

Neubauer was close to finishing his training and being assigned to a deploying squadron when he crashed while attempting an emergency landing at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. He bailed out just seconds before the plane smashed into homes in the University City neighborhood.

An investigation into the crash by the Marine Corps blamed poor maintenance and a series of errors by the pilot and officers on the ground. The investigation said Neubauer should have landed at Naval Air Station North Island instead of attempting a landing at Miramar, which is 11 miles away.

Four squadron officers were relieved of duty and eight other Marines and a sailor were reprimanded. Neubauer was grounded after the crash. The investigation faulted him for not being more forceful in describing the aircraft's power loss and not insisting on landing at North Island.

In resuming training, he will probably be required to duplicate parts of the regimen that he had already completed. The crash occurred minutes after Neubauer took off from the carrier Abraham Lincoln.

An investigation said that Neubauer "screamed in horror" when he saw that his plane had destroyed two homes and damaged two others.


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