SAN DIEGO -- A family that lost four members when a military jet crashed into their University City home in 2008 is suing the U.S. government for compensation for an accident that the Marine Corps has acknowledged was caused by a mechanical failure and a string of errors.

A federal judge on Monday will preside over the two-day nonjury trial to determine whether the government should pay the family and how much for the deaths of two children, their mother and their grandmother.

The Marine Corps has said the plane suffered a mechanical failure but that a series of bad decisions led the pilot -- a student -- to bypass a potentially safe landing at a coastal Navy base after his engine failed on Dec. 8, 2008. The pilot ejected himself and told investigators he screamed in horror as he watched the jet plow into the San Diego neighborhood, incinerating two homes.

It was later determined the pilot should have landed at NAS North Island instead of trying to make it to MCAS Miramar. Four officers were relieved of duty over the incident.

Don Yoon lost his 36-year-old wife, 15-month-old daughter; 2-month-old daughter; and his mother-in-law in the crash.

Sanghyun Lee, Don Yoon's father-in-law, said he lost his wife, daughter and two young granddaughters in the crash, and he told the judge, "The U.S. Navy took all my dreams away. I have nothing left."

Speaking through a translator, Lee, who traveled from his home in Korea, expressed how he misses his wife and daughter and said he has "lost everything."

Lee and his surviving adult children are part of the lawsuit filed by Yoon. They are seeking unspecified damages from the crash. A second home was also destroyed and three others suffered damage.

The federal judge, not a jury, will determine if and how much the government should compensate Yoon and his family for the deaths of his wife, Young Mi Yoon, 36, his mother-in-law Suk Im Kim, 60, and his two daughters Grace, 15 months and Rachel, 2 months.

"The United States has admitted responsibility for the crash," said lawyer Kevin Boyle, who is representing the plaintiffs. "Now what they're fighting is the amount of money they need to pay."

Boyle said he will point out the "metaphysical loss of losing a daughter, a wife, a mother." He has filed court documents pointing out other cases in which families have received millions of dollars from the government for the wrongful deaths of their loved ones.

Boyle declined to say how much money the family is seeking, saying it will come out during the trial.

The family’s attorney, Brian Panish, said testimony will show the enormous loss suffered by members of this close-knit family. Plaintiff testimony continues Tuesday.