US jet crashes in Libya

Libyans inspect the wreckage of a US F15 fighter jet after it crashed in an open field in the village of Bu Mariem, east of Benghazi, eastern Libya, on Tuesday, March 22, 2011, with both crew ejecting safely.
Libyans inspect the wreckage of a US F15 fighter jet after it crashed in an open field in the village of Bu Mariem, east of Benghazi, eastern Libya, on Tuesday, March 22, 2011, with both crew ejecting safely.

— An American fighter jet crashed in Libya’s rebel held east, both crew ejecting safely as the aircraft spun from the sky during the third night of the U.S. and European air campaign.

The crash was the first major loss for the U.S. and European military air campaign.

The U.S. Air Force F-15E came down in field of winter wheat and thistles outside the town of Bu Mariem, about 24 miles east of the rebel capital of Benghazi.

By Tuesday afternoon, the plane’s body was mostly burned to ash, with only the wings and tail fins intact. U.S. officials say both crewmembers were safe in American hands.

“I saw the plane spinning round and round as it came down,” said Mahdi Amrani, who rushed to the crash site with other villagers. “It was in flames. They died away, then it burst in to flames again.”

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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