On Saturday, the U.S. Marine Corps identified the marine who died in an F/A18D hornet crash during a training exercise.
— The pilot killed in a US Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet fighter crash Thursday night in Southern California has been identified.
The pilot, identified as Maj. Andrew Mettler, was confirmed dead Friday after the crash of a combat jet near a San Diego base, officials said.
The F/A-18D Hornet went down at 11:54 p.m. Thursday near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and searchers recovered the pilot at the site, the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing said in a statement from its headquarters in Cherry Point, North Carolina.
Mettler, part of Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 224, was the only person aboard the jet.
