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SAN DIEGO -- Both engines of a military jet fighter failed before the aircraft crashed and burned in a residential area, killing four people on the ground as it destroyed two houses, a congressional aide said Tuesday.
Investigators also found the remains of a fourth person in the rubble, a child 15 months old. Neighbors were in shock at the tragedy that befell the child's family Monday, hours after the father kissed his wife and baby goodbye in the driveway.
The twin-engine F/A-18D Hornet went down about two miles from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
No official initial finding of the cause of the crash was given, but a congressional aide who had been briefed on the crash said the pilot was trying to land at Miramar after his right engine malfunctioned. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not yet public.
While the pilot was on final approach to the runway, the aircraft lost thrust from its left engine, and he ejected, the aide said Tuesday.
The pilot ended up suspended by his parachute in a tree. He was being treated at a hospital.
Four people -- a mother, her two young children and a grandmother -- were killed in one house. One other home was destroyed, and three were damaged.
Fire Department spokesman Maurice Luque identified the child found Tuesday as 15-month-old Grace Yoon.
The family's pastor, the Rev. Kevin Lee of the Korean United Methodist Church, identified the other victims as Young Mi Yoon, Grace's mother, who was in her mid-30s; her 2-month-old daughter, Rachel; and Suk Im Kim, who had recently arrived from South Korea to help care for her daughter's newborn.
Neighbors said the family of Korean immigrants moved into the area about three months ago.
Michael Rose, 44, said he often spoke with the family and had seen the father bid his wife and infant goodbye just hours before the crash.
"I thought, what a beautiful sight. And then later in the day, they were gone," Rose said.
Military aircraft frequently streak over the neighborhood, two miles from the base, but residents said the plane that crashed Monday was flying extremely low.
The pilot was in stable condition at a Navy hospital, said 1st Lt. Katheryn Putnam, a Miramar spokeswoman. He had been returning from training on the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast, she said.
