Pilot of Jet That Crashed Is Honored

The Navy Reserve pilot who ejected himself from his crashing jet about 80 feet above a Sorrento Valley industrial park March 10 was commended Tuesday by the San Diego City Council and the county Board of Supervisors.

Cmdr. David Strong, 36, of Millersville, Md., was flown to San Diego by the Naval Reserve to accept the awards, a Navy spokesman said.

Supervisor Susan Golding said Strong’s decision to stay so long with his F-8 reconnaissance plane as it hurtled toward the ground at nearly 200 m.p.h. was “an act of genuine heroism.”

“It’s comforting to all of us to know there are genuine heroes and men who care more about saving other people’s lives than their own,” Golding said at a brief ceremony in the board’s chambers. A few minutes later, Strong was given similar praise at City Hall.

Although the Navy originally said Strong bailed out of the plane at 250 feet, spokesman Lt. John Semcken said Tuesday that the earlier figure was based on sea level. Because Sorrento Valley is more than 150 feet above sea level, Semcken said, Strong was actually only about 80 feet above the ground when he left the plane while its only engine was stopped by a fire.

“I’ve been trying to tell people that this guy came a heartbeat from killing himself,” Semcken said.