CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / SAN DIEGO

The pilot in an F/A-18 crash that killed four family members in the University City neighborhood has been cleared to resume flying, the Marine Corps said Wednesday.

Lt. Dan Neubauer has been put on “probationary status” and will resume training. The decision was made by Lt. Gen. George Trautman III, deputy commandant for aviation, after a review of the details of the Dec. 8 crash by senior officers.

Neubauer was close to finishing his training and being assigned to a deploying squadron when he crashed while attempting an emergency landing at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. He bailed out seconds before the plane smashed into homes in the University City neighborhood.

An investigation into the crash by the Marine Corps blamed poor maintenance and a series of errors by the pilot and officers on the ground. The investigation said Neubauer should have landed at Naval Air Station North Island instead of attempting a landing at Miramar, which is 11 miles away.

Four squadron officers were relieved of duty, and eight other Marines and a sailor were reprimanded. Neubauer was grounded after the crash. The investigation faulted him for not being more forceful in describing the aircraft’s power loss and not insisting on landing at North Island.

-- Tony Perry