SAN DIEGO -- A man whose family died Monday when a Marine Corps jet crashed into his University City home said Tuesday he missed his wife and children. He also expressed sympathy for the pilot, whom he said he hopes doesn't "suffer" from the tragedy.

"Nobody expected such a horrible thing would have happened," Dong Yun Yoon said a few hours after investigators found the remains of his oldest child, a toddler. "I believe my wife and two babies and mother-in-law are in heaven with God."

The Marine Corps has not released the name of the lone F/A-18D pilot, who ejected from the two-seat aircraft moments after reporting his engines had failed, landing about a quarter-mile from where the jet crashed. He was taken to a hospital and was released later in the evening, according to officials at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.

Authorities found Grace Yoon, 15 months old, among the rubble of the family home on Tuesday, raising the death toll to four in the crash that also claimed her 2-month old sister, Rachel, and mother and grandmother, the county coroner's office said.

The children's mother had been identified as Young Mi Yoon, a nurse. Her mother, Suk Im Kim, who came to San Diego from Korea about two months ago to help her daughter with the children, also died in the flames that engulfed the family's two-story home moments after the crash.

The family's pastor, Kevin Lee of the Korean United Methodist Church, said Young Mi Yoon's devotion to the family "was incredible."

"She was a really good example of a Christian wife and mother. This is a very sad tragedy," he said.

The family joined the church about 17 months ago, Lee said. After learning of the deaths, Lee and the senior pastor spent time with Dong Yun Yoon, a businessman who came to the United States in 1989. He was at work at the time of the crash.

"We didn't have words to speak to comfort him, so we just hugged each other and cried, cried for a long time," Lee said.

Smoke continued to rise Tuesday from the home at 4416 Cather Ave., where the family was killed. A piece of the cockpit sat on the roof of a nearby home, and a charred jet engine lay on the street.

Michael Rose said he lives across the street from the Yoons and saw Dong Yun Yoon kiss his wife and children goodbye when he left for work Monday morning.

"I remember thinking how poignant that was," Rose said Tuesday.

Engine failure

The pilot was practicing aircraft carrier landings and takeoffs when he reported having engine trouble shortly after taking off from the USS Abraham Lincoln about 50 miles off the coast of San Diego, according to air station officials.

A Marine 1st lieutenant who was a member of a Miramar-based training squadron, he reportedly told air traffic controllers that one engine failed while he was over the water, and the second engine failed as he neared the air station.

He ejected moments before the plane slammed into the ground and was later taken to Balboa Naval Medical Center with minor injuries. The back seat is used by a weapons officer when the aircraft is on a strike mission and was unoccupied Monday.

On Monday, Dawn Lyons said she spoke to the pilot just after he landed in a tree.

"I saw an incredibly composed person," said Lyons, a University City resident. "He didn't have any scrapes or bruises. He was very lucid."

Maintenance history

The aircraft involved in the crash has come under scrutiny in recent weeks. The Navy last month inspected hundreds of F/A-18 Hornets built by Boeing Co. after discovering "fatigue cracks" on more than a dozen of the jets. The inspections looked for cracks in a hinge that connects the aileron -- a flap that helps stabilize the jet during flight -- to the wing.

The Navy announced last month that it had grounded 10 of the $57 million fighters and placed flight restrictions on 20 more until repairs could be made.

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, issued a statement Tuesday calling for the Marine Corps to release the maintenance history of the jet and all other F/A-18D jets in its fleet.

The congressman also said it is important to gain a complete understanding of what went wrong.

"This requires that we also get a full debrief from the pilot, which should reveal important information about any mechanical problems that led to the crash," he said.

Miramar officials said they did not know the age of the aircraft or its engines. The last F/A-18D built for the Marine Corps was delivered in 2000.

The cleanup of the crash site will take up to a week, according to Miramar spokeswoman Cpl. Jessica Aranda.

The investigation is being led by officials with Miramar's 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing with other military and federal investigators.

A decision on whether to release a transcript of conversations between the pilot and Miramar controllers, as well as information from the data recorder, won't be made until the probe is complete, Aranda said.

The Associated Press contributed material used in this report.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 740-5442 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com. Contact staff writer Colleen Mensching at (760) 739-6675 of cmensching@nctimes.com. Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.

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