Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) --

The crash of a U.S. F/A-18 fighter jet that killed at least three people in a northern San Diego neighborhood may have been caused by a power failure, a California congressman said today.

Representative Duncan Hunter, the top Republican member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, said in an e-mail statement that yesterday’s crash near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar was “likely unrelated” to structural problems with the F/A-18D planes that were identified in October.

“This is the first F/A-18D mishap at Miramar since the Marines entered in 1997 and it is important that we gain a complete understanding of what went wrong,” Hunter said.

As the military investigation began, San Diego officials were conducting an “inch-by-inch” search of the crash site looking for clues and a possible fourth victim, a missing child, said Darren Pudgil, a spokesman for Mayor Jerry Sanders.

The fighter destroyed two homes and killed at least two adults and an infant when it plowed into the ground in the University City area of northern San Diego, about 2 miles (3 kilometers) west of the base featured in the 1986 Tom Cruise movie “Top Gun.”

The pilot ejected moments earlier and was in a stable condition, according to a statement issued by the base, formerly known as Miramar Naval Air Station.

Marines Cooperating

The U.S. Marine Corps is cooperating with local and federal authorities in investigating the crash, Staff Sergeant Leonard Langston said.

“We would like to know what happened and try to get some kind of comfort level that this won’t be repeated,” Pudgil said in a telephone interview.

The pilot, a member of the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101 known as the “Sharpshooters,” was working toward his qualifications for takeoff and landing from an aircraft carrier at the time of the crash. He crashed while heading back to Miramar from the USS Abraham Lincoln, said base spokeswoman Frances Goch.

A grandmother, mother and two children may have been in one of the two homes destroyed, while the other was empty at the time, Sanders told reporters yesterday. The children’s father, a businessman, wasn’t home, KNSD-TV said. The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office hasn’t identified the victims pending notification of relatives.

Fire Was Intense

Some residents of the middle-class suburb of University City were evacuated because of toxic smoke billowing from the crash site. Several houses were damaged and three cars were destroyed, as the jet fuel made the flames more intense, Fire Department spokesman Maurice Luque said.

“It was like a big bomb went off,” Luque said in a telephone interview.

Dennis Connor, 50, was on a hill in the neighborhood when he saw the plane coming in at a 45-degree angle, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. The pilot “was trying to get to the canyon,” the newspaper cited Connor as saying. “He held on as long as he could. At the last second, the pilot parachuted out.”

Steve Diamond, a retired naval aviator, also witnessed the crash and found the pilot in a canyon near the local high school, the newspaper reported. The Marine Corps lieutenant in his 20s told Diamond the plane had mechanical problems, according to the report.

The base has been a source of controversy in the area for years. Some community groups have voiced safety concerns because of the daily jet and helicopter training missions.

The plane that crashed was an F/A-18D Hornet, according to the Marine station statement. The attack and fighter aircraft is made by McDonnell Douglas Corp., a unit of Boeing Co., and Northrop Grumman Corp., said the Navy’s Web page on the plane.

In November, the Navy grounded 10 F/A-18D Hornets and placed flight restrictions on 20 others after discovering cracks in their aluminum outer wing panel outboard hinges.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Flinn in San Francisco at rflinn@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 9, 2008 15:01 EST
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