Military jet crashes near school in San Diego

A military F-18 jet crashed yesterday into a California neighbourhood near San Diego after the pilot ejected, igniting at least one home, officials said.

Television images showed smoke billowing from the crash site in a tightly packed suburban neighbourhood near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

No one on the ground was believed to be injured, but there were reports that there might have been a second pilot on board.

"At this point, the only indication is that the only person who may be injured is the pilot," a spokesman for the San Diego police department, told local TV station KNSD.

A spokesman for the Air Station, said the plane is believed to have been an F-18 from a training squadron.

The pilot landed on a high school baseball field. Witnesses told local radio the pilot might have been heading the plane to crash in a big canyon nearby, thereby avoiding the school.

Gayle Newcomb, an assistant at University City High School near the crash site, said the plane "missed the school entirely" and all the students are safe.