Pilot Screams in Horror

(CNN) -- A pilot who parachuted from his disabled Marine Corps jet last year said he was horrified to see it smash into a <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />California home, newly released documents say.

Marine Corps Lt. Dan Neubauer's statements, describing the December crash that killed four family members in a San Diego home, were released Tuesday by military officials.

The four-page document details in technical terms several attempts Neubauer made to keep his crippled F/A-18D from crashing. When it became apparent that the plane was going down, Neubauer parachuted out.

"I looked down to see where my plane had crashed and saw that it had gone right into a house. I screamed in horror when I realized what had just happened," Neubauer said in the document.

Neubauer landed in the backyard of another home and was not injured. The pilot had been trying to reach the nearby Marine Corps Air Station Miramar when he started having problems with his fighter jet.

The jet crashed into Dong Yun Yoon's house, killing his wife, his two young children and his mother-in-law. An unoccupied house was also destroyed.

Days after the incident, Yoon said he did not blame the pilot.

"Please pray for him not to suffer from this accident," Yoon said. "I don't blame him. I don't have any hard feelings. I know he did everything he could."

Could you be this charitable after a military jet crashes into your home and kills your whole family? With cutbacks on everything these days, it makes you wonder how much more will be cut back on when it comes to safety. The Military will probably never tell us exactly what brought the plane down, but you can bet that in part, it was due to cutbacks in maintenance. We are seeing cutbacks in all things, including commercial airline safety. I don't see how it helps us to be any safer in the skies to recruit air traffic controllers right out of high school.

So what can be done these days to be safe in any aspect of life when we're plagued with budget cuts, shoddy foreign workmanship on products, living in a nation of disposable products and little oversight in making sure they're made right? PRAY! Pray you don't get injured or killed by inferior products. It's all you can do at this point.

 

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Tags: Culture | San Diego | crash