Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Jet Crashes Into San Diego Home, Kills Four


A military jet crashed into University City, landing on two homes and killing four people in one second; those who died were a 36 year old mother, her two boys ages 2 months and 1 year, and the grandmother, who had recently flown in from the family residence of Korea to be help care for the two babies. The father, a businessman, was at work when he received the phone call.

The pilot of the plane ejected seconds before the
actual crash, after struggling to land the plane in a less populated area. Witnesses on the scene say he seemed physically fine, with no scratches or visible injuries, and was concerned about where his plane had landed. There are conflicting stories about the exact nature of the incident.

Mr. Curry is taking over this part of the news story, as he is better informed and more opinionated than I:

We live about 10 miles southwest of where the plane actually went down. Miramar air station is about 10-15 miles from the coast. This was the destination of the plane. The plane had lost one of it's engines and was "limping" back to the base. The military was very vanilla last night in saying that it lost one engine and then crashed. The accounts from five different people who talked to the pilot on the ground is that he lost his one engine out over the ocean and was told to try to make it back to Miramar air station. People are most honest right after something tragic happens. In San Diego we have an air base on the coast of Coronado. The pilot was training a hundred miles off coast when he lost his engine. They decided to have him try to make it back to the inland base instead of the costal base. This, to me, is unforgivable. He never had to fly back over populated areas. He could have landed at Coronado which is closer, and his approach would have been completely over the water. As near as I can tell the military was playing the odds. The plane SHOULD have been able to make it back on one engine. A commanding officer made the call to have this plane fly back to Miramar instead of the coast on Coronado. Whoever made this decision should be court marshalled and jailed. But as always, things do not change until a tragedy happens.
The Panic Room said...

I am sure if enough people decided to be loud enough about it then you could in fact change this particular situation. As a community you could get all Erin Brockovich about it and rattle the cages until National News wires pick up the story. Start twittering CNN relentlessly. Just an idea.

What an awful phone call to receive. How does someone wrap their heads around that happening to their family.

michellewoo said...

My magazine is reporting on this story as the family was Korean. Tragic, tragic news. Scary that you're so close!

Rachael said...

So horrible...I can't imagine.

Patois42 said...

I'm "glad" I read your post just now. I am notorious for averting my eyes when tragedy befalls children. I can't handle it. But your conclusion is spot-on. This is outrageous.

Emily A. Benton said...

yeesh!

Collin Kelley said...

I have to agree with Mr. Curry. The plane should have been diverted away from populated areas. The pilot could have ejected over water or attempted to make it to Coronado. I hope there's an investigation into this.

Glad you and yours are okay, Maggie.

jen said...

i'm so glad you and yours were safe but it's so sad for this family.

if this is all true, i can't believe people can be so thoughtless. well, sadly, i guess i can.

Chaos and love said...

The man was in the paper yesterday, face in hands. What is there to say?

Lola said...

I actually thought of you guys when I saw it on the news. I never imagined you were that close by. Very scary indeed!

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