A Marine Harrier jet crashed into a residential area of Imperial, California, and destroyed two homes yesterday, but authorities say no one was injured. The Harrier AV-8B went down in a front yard on a neighborhood street of tightly packed houses at 4:20 p.m. in the city of about 15,000 near the U.S.-Mexico border, about 90 miles east of San Diego.
The pilot ejected safely and was taken to an area hospital for evaluation and released. Marine Lt. Col. John Ferguson said debris from the plane hit the roof of one of the houses, which was destroyed, the subsequent explosion and fire destroyed another house and badly damaged one more. The house that suffered the brunt of the damage had a missing roof but still had walls and windows intact.
