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Africa North
US fighter jet crash lands in field near Benghazi
2011-03-22
A US warplane has crash landed in a Libyan field in the area around Benghazi, The Telegraph can disclose.

The two crew members on the F-15E fighter jet ejected to safety. One has already been recovered by US forces, who say they are in the process of rescuing the other. It is understood that at least one of the crew members was initially rescued by rebel Libyan soldiers after ejecting from the aircraft. Both crew members suffered minor injuries.

The crashed plane was discovered by a Telegraph journalist reporting in and around Benghazi, the rebel-held city. It is thought the F-15E fighter jet came to ground after suffering a mechanical failure.

The US military confirmed that one of its jets had crash landed but said that it had not been shot down.

Vince Crawley, a spokesman for the US military's Africa Command, said that one crewman had been recovered and one was "in process of recovery". Crawley said the crash occurred "overnight." He declined to give the location of the incident and also would not say how the rescued crewman was picked up.

This is the first coalition aircraft to have crash landed during the Libyan conflict following the third night of air strikes.
Posted by:Steve White

#12  Whettle, you are a Dumbass. That flag is the Libyan Flag prior to Daffy's military coup. From wikipedia

The flag of the Kingdom of Libya was adopted when Libya gained independence in 1951 from Italy. It consisted of a white crescent-and-star on a triband red-black-green design, with the central black band being twice the width of the outer bands. The design was based on the banner of the Senussi dynasty from Cyrenaica

(1951–1969)
Posted by: No I am The Other Beldar   2011-03-22 16:57  

#11  Heard on the web: "when we elected O he promised we would not have two wars for long, now we have three."
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2011-03-22 16:54  

#10  Qadaffy forces continue to advance in some areas. The rebel forces simply do not have the proper boots on the ground to stop the advances. Obama and Hillary encouraged up risings in the middle east. Things unravel now is their fault.

By the way, the rebels are hard core Islamists. Look at thier flag.
Posted by: Whetle Sforza7514   2011-03-22 14:25  

#9  we may never know if the crash occurred because the pilot was trying to follow a complex ROE and had to make maneuvers beyond the aircraft's capability.

but that is possible
Posted by: Lord Garth   2011-03-22 14:09  

#8  Totally agree Jim.

Pakistan and Iran should be are targets not Libya!
Posted by: Paul   2011-03-22 13:42  

#7  General purpose loadout. 2 Paveways and 3 Brimstone.
Posted by: Oscar Spineck3066   2011-03-22 13:01  

#6  From the photos it looks like the Tornado is on a anti-vehicle rather than anti-building role...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2011-03-22 11:38  

#5  WTF are we doing in the middle east? Does anyone know who these 'rebels' are? Does anyone care that Iraq and Afghanistan are declared 'Islamic Republics'? For Ch***ts sake, Iran declared war on the US, by invading us, in 1979! Why aren't we bombing the sh%t out of that country?
Posted by: jim   2011-03-22 11:32  

#4  Photos
Posted by: tipper   2011-03-22 11:15  

#3  ...Fox is now saying that they ejected at fairly high altitude and got separated. The Marines got one out with an Osprey and the rebels got the other one and got him to the proper authorities.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2011-03-22 10:54  

#2  AF.mil: Both crew members ejected and are safe.

The aircraft, based out of RAF Lakenheath, England, was flying out of Aviano Air Base in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn at the time of the incident.

The identities will be released after the next of kin have been notified.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2011-03-22 10:53  

#1  And now we'll find out if they really appreciate the effort or not.
Posted by: gorb   2011-03-22 10:03  

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