A Tragic Turn: Remembering Major Andrew Mettler
The Marine Corps community is reeling after the loss of Major Andrew Mettler, whose life was tragically cut short in a fighter jet crashes Miramar incident on the night of August 24, 2023. As the F/A-18 Hornet roared into the darkness, no one could have foreseen that this routine exercise would end in devastation. The aircraft, part of the Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 224, went down in a remote area east of the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, far from any structures, leaving the landscape unscathed but the Corps deeply scarred. The Heartbreaking Discovery Rescue teams were mobilized immediately after the crash, their efforts hampered by difficult terrain and the cover of night. Helicopters from the San Diego Fire Department, supported by ground crews, the San Diego Police Department, and the Coast Guard, worked tirelessly to locate the downed aircraft. Tragically, by the early morning of August 25, Major Mettler was found deceased at the crash site, a lone figure in t