F-15 crashes in Libya; crew rescued - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

F-15 crashes in Libya; crew rescued

An Air Force F-15 Strike Eagle fighter jet crashed over Libya late Monday night, but both crew members ejected and are safe.

The airmen suffered minor injuries after their fighter experienced an equipment malfunction, Adm. Samuel Locklear told reporters during a Pentagon briefing Tuesday. Locklear commands the Joint Task Force-Odyssey Dawn, which oversees coalition operations enforcing a United Nations-backed no-fly zone over Libya.

The aircraft, based out of RAF Lakenheath, England, was flying out of Aviano Air Base, Italy.

The crash occurred about 11:30 p.m. local time.

One airman was picked up by nearby rebel soldiers and treated “with dignity and respect,” including medical care, Locklear said. A military search-and-rescue team recovered the other airman.

Locklear said he could not confirm a media report that the Marine Corps rescue team’s V-22 Osprey opened fire on a village and killed five people.

The admiral also said the coalition had no communications with rebel troops before or during recovery operations.

“What I’m going to say is that we’re doing an investigation,” he said. “We are only hours away from having that incident occur. And we’re in the middle of a major operation out here. This investigation will take time and it will be looked at very carefully, I’m sure, as we go forward.”

AFRICOM did not release the identities of the two crew members, citing a need to first contact their family members.

The Telegraph, a newspaper in the United Kingdom, had a reporter on the scene of the crash near Benghazi, the rebel stronghold, and posted photos of the twisted debris. The newspaper’s website said the wreckage is of the F-15. Clearly visible are the Strike Eagle’s dual thrust engines.

Among the Air Force airframes supporting Operation Odyssey Dawn are:

• B-2s from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.

• F-15Es from the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, England.

• F-16Cs from the 480th Fighter Squadron in Spangdahlem, Germany.

• KC-135s from the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall, England.

• C-130Js from the 37th Airlift Squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

• EC-130J psychological operations aircraft from the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.

• RQ-4 Global Hawks, E-8 Joint Stars and other intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.