Deadly Fighter Crash 'Clearly Avoidable'

WASHINGTON, March 3, 2009— -- The crash of a Marine fighter jet in San Diego that killed four people was "clearly avoidable" if the pilot and officers on the ground assisting him during the emergency had followed proper procedures, a Marine general said today.

As a result of a Marine Corps investigation into the F/A-18 Hornet crash in December, 13 Marines have been disciplined, including four who were relieved of their duties.

The investigation concluded that the fighter was brought down by a rare double-engine failure, but it also found that the second engine failure could have been prevented, according to a report released today.

If checklists had been followed, the plane would have continued on course to the nearest available airstrip at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., instead of being redirected to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, which was further away and also took the disabled plane over heavily populated neighborhoods, the report said.

Audio recordings also released today by the Federal Aviation Administration show air traffic controllers twice offered the F/A-18 pilot a chance to land his plane at North Island. That airstrip was not only closer, it also offered a flight approach over open water, but the pilot continued toward Miramar.

Besides the four Marine officers who were relieved of duty for the series of bad decisions that led the malfunctioning plane to crash short of the runway at Miramar, nine other Marines have received administrative reprimands.

The plane's pilot, who safely ejected just moments before the plane crashed, has been grounded ever since and will receive a further review to determine if he should keep his wings.

In releasing the report at a news conference in Miramar, the 3rd Marine Air Wing's Brig. Gen. Randolph Alles apologized to the families of people killed in the crash.

"The tragedy was clearly avoidable," he said.

Col. John Rupp, who presented the report, said the crash resulted from "a complex emergency that was compounded by a series of well-intentioned and incorrect decisions" by the pilot and the other officers that "ultimately led to the fuel starvation of the aircraft's sole remaining engine."