Talked with some first responders who were at the crash site. Pilot was doing traps on the Lincoln when he lost an engine. He diverted to Miramar - performance probably still well within the aircraft’s operational envelope, even with one engine - when he lost the second engine on approach. Mechanical failure, bird strike, who knows? Too low - not enough time - made the only decision he probably could make.
I’ve known a number of Navy pilots - got to fly with a few of them. I would say that, to the man, in a similar situation they would ride the rock down if they thought it would save souls on the ground. This pilot is probably no different - and he’ll be second guessing himself for the rest of his life.
Prayers for all concerned.
The showed the location of the house on the news. It looks like it is at the top of a hill and behind it is an empty ravine. Looks like the pilot was aiming for the ravine and unfortunately couldn’t get the plane a little higher. Maybe 50-100 feet higher would have cleared the neighborhood.