https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/f-18-military-jet-crashes-san-diego-fate-pilot-not-known-rcna101784
The fighter went down at 11:54 p.m. Thursday near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
A fighter jet crashed north of San Diego late Thursday night, killing the pilot who was the only person on board, authorities said.
Crashes in the Navy and Marine Corps have gone up wildly over the last twenty years. It's almost like the optempo of the Gulf War 2.0 is not sustainable.
The last year I was in the military they cut back training flight hours by like a fraction of a percent. It was hardly noticeable. I wonder if it's continued to decrease in the last 5 years. The aircraft aren't getting newer, and the military is experiencing massive brain drain as it's hands are tied by congress when it comes to competing with the market for labor.
Also, pilot load has increased dramatically, you had an rso on an f14 to help out, these guys are doing everything and f18s are workload intensive as hell, tons of features but lacking a lot of the automation of something like an f22 or f35.
I live crossing the border, I'm anti war, however it was always fun going up North and catching a couple of jets doing crazy maneuvers.