Eyewitnesses reported the jet flew slowly eastbound at a low altitude and was dumping fuel (which is not uncommon for an emergency landing). Neubauer attempted to make an arrested landing at Miramar but the jet lost power in its operating engine while on final approach. After declaring an emergency, he was first directed towards Naval Air Station North Island, but was redirected by superior officers to his home base of MCAS Miramar when about 20 miles (32 km) away from North Island. Īfter taking off from the carrier at 11:11 a.m., Neubauer reported an oil caution light for the right engine, and shut it down after efforts to clear the problem failed. Neubauer was the only crewmember on board the two-seat aircraft. Along with several other VMFAT-101 aircraft, he was conducting day and night carrier qualifications (catapult launches and tailhook arrested carrier landings) aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln offshore 60 miles southwest of San Diego. On DecemLt Neubauer was piloting an F/A-18D-30-MC Hornet (Lot 12), BuNo 164017, from VMFAT-101, based at MCAS Miramar. The Marine Corps notified other F/A-18 squadrons of the engine and fuel problems discovered during the investigation.Īn F/A-18D from VMFAT-101 at MCAS Miramar in 2006, similar to one involved in the accident. As a result, in early 2009 the pilot was temporarily grounded and thirteen other officers and enlisted personnel were relieved and/or disciplined. Errors by the pilot and USMC personnel on the ground led to the aircraft crashing into the San Diego residential neighborhood. A total of four residents in one house, two adults and two children, were killed.Ī USMC investigation concluded that poor maintenance caused the engine malfunction. The jet crashed into the University City residential area, destroying two houses and damaging a third. The pilot, First Lieutenant Dan Neubauer (28) from VMFAT-101, was the only crewmember on board the two-seat aircraft he ejected successfully, landing in a tree. The San Diego F/A-18 crash was the crash of a United States Marine Corps (USMC) F/A-18 Hornet in a residential area of San Diego, California on December 8, 2008.
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