The trial began last week for the Yoon and Lee families who have lost everything due to a military jet crash in 2008. The families lost their homes along with four family members and are seeking millions of dollars to compensate for the accident’s devastating damages.
On December 8, 2008, a student pilot crashed his fighter jet over a San Diego neighborhood. The crash could have been avoided for several reasons. The plane experienced a mechanical breakdown and the pilot was advised to make a safe landing at the Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado. Unfortunately the pilot did not listen and continued to fly… directly into two homes.
The homes burnt to a crisp and left Don Yoon without a home or family. In the crash, Yoon lost his wife (36 years old), two daughters (15 months and 2 months old), and mother-in-law (59 years old). The only memories left of his family fit into a cardboard box… the contents consisting of photos that the firefighters were able to save for the burning home.
The heart-wrenching trial began Monday with much evidence reported from older cases where families had been compensated millions of dollars due to the loss of family members from wrongful military doings.
Attorney Kevin Boyle from Los Angeles is defending the Yoon and Lee families and thinks that the original amount offered to the families is unjust. The government wanted to pay only $955,348 for economic losses and an unknown amount for non-economic damage. To the families, they lost everything and this amount will not be enough to relieve the damage done by the military’s errors. U.S. District Judge Jeffery Miller will be making the final decision at the end of the trial.
The military did retaliate against the 13 members of the Marines Corps and Navy that were involved with the December 8 crash errors yet is this enough discipline for the damages done? The family awaits to hear how much non-economic losses will be compensated for the irreplaceable damage that has been caused to their family.
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