WASHINGTON (AP) — Thirteen Marines have been disciplined for errors that led a disabled jet fighter to crash in a San Diego neighborhood last December, killing four members of one family, service officials told lawmakers on Tuesday.
Four officers at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego have been relieved of duty for directing the F/A-18D Hornet to fly over the residential area, the officials said. Nine other military personnel received lesser reprimands.
With his jet having engine problems, the pilot should have been told to fly over San Diego Bay and land at another base that sits on the tip of a peninsula, the officials said.
The Marine Corps has not decided whether to discipline the pilot, who ejected safely, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., told The Associated Press.
"He probably won't fly anymore," said Hunter, a Marine veteran.
Hunter was among the lawmakers who received a closed-door briefing Tuesday on the results of the Marine Corps' investigation into the Dec. 8 crash.
During the 90-minute session, Lt. Gen. George Trautman, the Marine Corps top aviator, and other officers described a series of mechanical and human errors that could have been avoided, Hunter said.
The jet's right engine went out due to an oil leak shortly after the fighter left the deck of the Navy aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln on a training flight. The aircraft can fly on one engine, so losing power in one of the General Electric turbofan engines was not cause for extreme concern. At the same time, however, the plane was having trouble moving fuel from its tanks to the engines.
Marine Corps aviation rules dictate that a plane with such mechanical failures should land immediately. The investigation determined the best and safest option was to bring the aircraft down at Naval Air Station North Island near Coronado.
"It turns out, North Island said three different times, 'You're cleared to land here,'" Hunter said.
Yet the pilot didn't understand what was happening, and a lack of communication between him and the ground crew kept the plane on course for Miramar, according to Hunter.
A familiarity with Miramar was also a factor. The runways there are also 4,000 feet longer than at North Island, which allows more room for error when guiding in a damaged aircraft.
As the jet approached Miramar, the left engine failed because it was getting too little fuel, leaving the plane without power. Seventeen seconds later, the pilot ejected.
The 50,000-pound aircraft slammed into a neighborhood, sending flames and plumes of smoke skyward.
Four members of a family were killed in their home — Young Mi Yoon, 36; her daughters Grace, 15 months, and Rachel, 2 months; and her mother, Suk Im Kim, 60. Kim was visiting from South Korea.
Yours Truly,
A Nado Local
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