F-18 just crashed near my home. Just east of the airfield. (Miramar)

[Pukin Dog]

Pilot ejected, and has been located.

[Yo-Yo]

Not that I'm not glad the pilot is safe, but I thought pilots were expected to ride the bird all the way to the ground when over civilian airspace.

And soldiers are expected to fall on a grenade when one is tossed among his buddies.

You can't mandate heroism.

[SoCalPol]

I remember during the Vietnam war a jet went out of conrol at Miramar and it went through one of the hangers and took out other jets and several people

[SoCalPol]

Several years ago just up from my apt., I saw a jet from miramar heading down and ended up near 163

[Pukin Dog]

It was an F-8 Crusader, 1969. Also, there was the Hornet that flipped on a wet runway that killed Cdr. Hank Kleeman, one of the former Tomcat pilots who got the first air-to-air kills in the F-14.

[PeterFinn]

It's been on CNN the past hour.

[HardStarboard]

>>>Just north of San Diego, might even be in San Diego, but it's wide open spaces.<<<

Wide open spaces is a relative term. Pretty highly populated around there except due east of runway approach.

East Texas it isn't!

[BamaDi]

the love of my life was an AF fighter pilot....ahhhh - and he was a whole lot sexier than Maverick or Goose (and taller too!)....there is nothing finer on the planet than a man in a flight suit!

[USMCWife6869]

Mostly because it literally crashed in the middle of a neighborhood with live ammo on it. The city wanted to sue the base, even though the base did all the cleanup and paid reparations and no one was hurt. I think they ended up dropping it.

I have found that even though Yuma is more military friendly than San Diego, it still lacks a lot. I miss Cherry Point. Now there is a supportive community.

[Tallguy]

It was an A4 Skyhawk & it went down due to a major hydraulic leak. Pilot practically set it down on Broadway Ave. just around the block from my house. He punched at the last second & ended up swinging from a tree, but otherwise OK. A few parked cars & some shrubs got scorched, but that was it. 1986.

[Tallguy]

There was an A3D that went down in the pattern at Miramar in '87.

No sh*t?! A Douglas A3 Skywarrior? In 1987? I thought all those relics had been retired long before then. I remember seeing a reference to them as late as 1977, but even then I think they were all in the boneyard.

[ArmstedFragg]

In roughly '71, there was a guy who punched-out on approach and his aircraft flew right into the open door of a hanger. I shot film of the scene... what a mess!

[USMCWife6869]

Here is an article about it if you are interested.

http://sun.yumasun.com/google/ysarchive14268.html

[ArmstedFragg]

December 22, 1969. It was an F8.

[ThunderStruck94]

I am a Navy pilot. T-45 Instructor. We do everything we can to avoid civilian areas, but if the aircraft can't be controlled, it is not our fault....see ya!

[TankerKC]

There is no Mira Mesa, CA. Mira Mesa is a neighborhood of San Diego.

I lived in Mira Mesa for a year before I realized that. ;)

[TankerKC]

http://www.navycthistory.com/Chuck_Huber_AirCrew.html See the last two entries. There were 2 A3D crashes in 1987...one at Miramar.

There were A5 Vigalanties on the ramp when I arrived a Miramar in '87, too.

[Joe Brower]

Ah, you're right -- it was an A3D (which from my Navy days, I recall used to be referred to as the "all three dead"). Dunno why I thought it was an S-3. Gettin' old... $;-)

I remember the pilot was heroic in how he waited until the last second to punch out, hit the ground running and headed straight for the crash site to render assistance. I heard about that later -- all I saw from the highway was the column of smoke coming from the valley on the west side of the highway (to my right as I headed south), the plume of thick black smoke, and the cars in the parking lot below scattered about like toys.

[null and void]

[TankerKC]

I've seen pictures of that that on old Chief took. He said it was a hell of a day.

[TMSuchman]

You must be in Yuma, Az. I was there 96-99 & was with the Crash Crew [baked tators folks, due to our aluminim turn out gear and big green crash trucks]. The crash review folks have never said what caused that accident. Even though the AV8B is called the North Carolina lawn dart or the widow maker, due to it's difficaulity to fly.