Miramar MCAS is very close to us; a hike up the hill just outside the neighborhood will give you a great view of the runway. (But if you go there during the air show they will chase you away due to safety concerns.)
Friday morning 8/25/23 we woke to news that there had been a crash of an F/A 18 Hornet east of Miramar on Thursday night just before midnight.
The next day it was reported that the pilot had died in the crash. There was no damage to property on the ground.
The landing approach is very close to us, <1/4 mile I think.
We did not hear anything that night but were asleep.
Our thoughts go to the family of the deceased pilot.

Link: Marine Corps Times

Sorry to hear this.

There is a follow up story posted at the bottom of the linked article. The pilot was Marine Corps Maj. Andrew Mettler from Marietta, GA.

Rest in peace Major Mettler.

Very sad.

I have a good feeling where you are at. Dad was chief of security for sometime in the late 80s, early 90s, at what was then known as Naval Air Station Miramar. I used to visit often, watching the F14s take off and land. I also spent a lot of time at Duffytown.

I also recall in the mid 80s, 2 airmen punched out of an F14, and landed near one of my friends house. One of the guys knocked on his door to use the phone .

Appears the Major opted to stay with the plane to ensure no civilian casualties on the ground as that area on the approach has a lot of housing.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Appears the Major opted to stay with the plane to ensure no civilian casualties on the ground as that area on the approach has a lot of housing.

Yeah. That's our house.
God bless you Major. Reminds me of The Great Santini. We don't deserve these heroes.

Was the crash site in the hills below Scrips Ranch/Poway, East of 15?

This is unfortunate, as the USMC decided to pass on replacing these legacy with the Super's, instead putting their eggs into the F-35 basket, which as we've known, has sped-up recently but, still behind schedule. Meanwhile, we've got -A, -C & -D's falling out of the sky as their life expectancy has been stretched beyond what maintenance can support.

I thought I saw the weather at 600-700 overcast at the time. I don’t know the exact location of the accident, nor about any distress call.


I’m sure the ATC tapes, location, phase of flight(recovery/approach) and radar track would give some serious clues.

quote:

This is unfortunate, as the USMC decided to pass on replacing these legacy with the Super's, instead putting their eggs into the F-35 basket, which as we've known, has sped-up recently but, still behind schedule. Meanwhile, we've got -A, -C & -D's falling out of the sky as their life expectancy has been stretched beyond what maintenance can support.

I’ve read of the Navy (or Marines, don’t remember which) having to go to aircraft museums and pull parts from the exhibit planes for maintenance of active service planes.

My wife noted that we haven’t heard the usual F/A-18’s in their landing pattern the last few days, and assume they are grounded pending investigation. Today earlier heard a jet but sounded like it wasn’t a fighter.

Yes, this is in the part of MCAS land directly adjacent to Scripps Ranch properties south of Pomerado Drive. We can look over that general area on our afternoon walks.

The crash happened at 11:54 pm Thursday night, I believe. We were sound asleep, but I would have thought we would have heard a plane crash. Weather early the next morning was heavily overcast which hampered search/rescue efforts.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Appears the Major opted to stay with the plane to ensure no civilian casualties on the ground as that area on the approach has a lot of housing.

Yeah. That's our house.
God bless you Major. Reminds me of The Great Santini. We don't deserve these heroes.

Doesn’t that plane have low-level ejection capability? Ejection immediately before impact?

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
Doesn’t that plane have low-level ejection capability? Ejection immediately before impact?

Yes it does* which is one of the many reasons why I think this is an inadvertent Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) scenario. I'll let the MIR with all endorsements come out before I say any more.

(* Depending on airspeed, altitude, bank angle and dive angle)

Thanks, Tailhook. We look forward to hearing more at the right time.