Fighter jet goes down in Libya
Posted March 22, 2011 8:30 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BENGHAZI, LIBYA (NEWS1130) – A coalition fighter jet has gone down during a third night of bombing over Libya. A US F-15 Strike Eagle crashed in an opposition-controlled area near Bu Mariem, about 38 kilometres east of Benghazi. Both pilots were ejected.
CNN’s Arwa Damon is near the wreckage and says the crash happened around midnight local time. “They say they realized the plane was suffering some sort of mechanical failure, many of them witnessing the crash itself. And then we’re being told residents in the area began combing through the fields looking for the pilots, wanting to help them.”
Both were picked up safely and are now in US hands.
Libyan state TV is claiming to have shot down the jet but the US says it was a mechanical problem.
The opposition has pushed back Moammar Ghadafi’s forces in the no-fly zone but in other areas, like the city of Misrata, rebels tell CNN that government forces are attacking with tanks and snipers. “They are killing everyone here. A lot of children,” says Mohammed, an opposition supporter.
Ottawa has approved military involvement in Libya for up to three months. Canada’s CF-18 fighter jets have not been involved in air strikes, but have patrolled the no-fly zone.
