US jet crashes in Libya due to apparent equipment malfunction, both crew safe an

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US jet crashes in Libya due to apparent equipment malfunction, both crew safe

and in US hands

By Rising, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – 2 hours 59 minutes

ago

BERLIN - A U.S. fighter jet crashed in Libya after an apparent equipment

malfunction but both crewmembers were able to eject and are back safely in

American hands, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

The plane crashed Monday at 2130 GMT (5:30 p.m. EDT), said Vince Crawley, a

spokesman for U.S. Africa Command.

A spokesman for the Libyan opposition, Mohammed Ali, said the U.S. plane crashed

about 25 miles (40 kilometres) southwest of the eastern rebel stronghold of

Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city.

A Marine Corps Osprey search and rescue aircraft retrieved the pilot, while the

second crew member, a weapon's officer, was recovered by rebel forces and is now

in American hands, another U.S. official said in Washington. He spoke on

condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

The two were separated after ejecting from the crippled F-15E Strike Eagle jet

at high altitude and drifting down to different locations, Crawley said, adding

they sustained minor injuries.

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. The cause of

the crash is being investigated.

The Air Force has said only that B-2, F-15 and F-16 fighters are participating

in operations over Libya. The U.S. involvement in Libya is being run by Africa

Command, which is based in Stuttgart, Germany.

Africa Command launched in Oct. 2008 after the Pentagon abandoned efforts to

base the command on the continent after it hit resistance among African nations,

and instead posted about two dozen liaison officers at African embassies.

_____

ine Jelinek in Washington, Cassandra Vinograd in London and Maggie

in Cairo contributed to this report.