U.S. fighter jet crashes in Libya, crew safe
Posted Mar 22, 2011 09:45:49 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The U.S. military said an Air Force F-15 Strike Eagle crashed in Libya, but it was not shot down. The Pentagon said it went down due to mechanical malfunction.
The two pilots were ejected from their fighter jet and sustained minor injuries, but are safe and reportedly in U.S. hands.
One crew member has been recovered and an operation is currently under way to recover the other one, “but we know he’s safe,” Ken Fidler, a spokesman for Africa Command, said.
The pilots were separated because they used parachutes to eject from the jet at high altitudes, ending up in different areas.
The aircraft, based out of Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, was flying out of Italy’s Aviano Air Base in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn at the time of the incident.
Retired U.S. Major-General James Marks said that despite the mission’s definition of an air-only campaign, it would be naive for anyone to think that special operation forces are not on the ground.
There was no major strike by coalition planes overnight. Word is they have dropped into a patrol pattern while expanding the no-fly zone to cities like Benghazi, where rebels said forces are still very aggressive. Canadian CF-18s also joined the international force overnight.
