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CNN) -- A military jet crashed into a residential neighborhood in San Diego, California, on Monday as it tried to land at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, an FAA spokesman told CNN.
The pilot ejected before the jet, an F/A-18, went down two miles from the airfield about 11:55 a.m. PT, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.
Information about injuries wasn't immediately available, Gregor said. CNN affiliate KGTV reported that the pilot was transported to a local hospital in "mild status."
Aerial video broadcast by KGTV shortly after the crash showed thick gray smoke billowing from what appeared to be a heavily populated residential area of several houses near Interstate 805.
Smoke continued to rise in clouds from the site nearly an hour after the crash.
Firefighters aimed jets of water from high-pressure hoses at the smoldering rubble of what appeared to be at least one house.
Authorities cordoned off the area. Residents told reporters they had been informed by police that chemicals were in the air and they should stay away.
One resident interviewed by CNN affiliate KFMB said he saw a fighter jet at a very low altitude, and "it just spiraled, right out of 'Top Gun.' "
The movie "Top Gun" was based on the Navy fighter pilot training program at the Miramar facility.
The resident said he saw a flier from the aircraft on the ground after parachuting from the plane. He said the pilot was dazed but able to move on his own.
The principal of a high school about three blocks from the crash site said students had just finished lunch when staffers heard "two large pops or two large booms." The school and its students were not directly affected by the crash, but the school was put into lock-down mode for students' safety, Principal Mike Price said.
The pilot was in communication with military air traffic controllers before the jet crashed, the FAA said.
The pilot ejected before the jet, an F/A-18, went down two miles from the airfield about 11:55 a.m. PT, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.
Information about injuries wasn't immediately available, Gregor said. CNN affiliate KGTV reported that the pilot was transported to a local hospital in "mild status."
Aerial video broadcast by KGTV shortly after the crash showed thick gray smoke billowing from what appeared to be a heavily populated residential area of several houses near Interstate 805.
Smoke continued to rise in clouds from the site nearly an hour after the crash.
Firefighters aimed jets of water from high-pressure hoses at the smoldering rubble of what appeared to be at least one house.
Authorities cordoned off the area. Residents told reporters they had been informed by police that chemicals were in the air and they should stay away.
One resident interviewed by CNN affiliate KFMB said he saw a fighter jet at a very low altitude, and "it just spiraled, right out of 'Top Gun.' "
The movie "Top Gun" was based on the Navy fighter pilot training program at the Miramar facility.
The resident said he saw a flier from the aircraft on the ground after parachuting from the plane. He said the pilot was dazed but able to move on his own.
The principal of a high school about three blocks from the crash site said students had just finished lunch when staffers heard "two large pops or two large booms." The school and its students were not directly affected by the crash, but the school was put into lock-down mode for students' safety, Principal Mike Price said.
The pilot was in communication with military air traffic controllers before the jet crashed, the FAA said.
