12:52 PM
US fighter jet crashes during Libya mission
News: US Jet Crashes in Libya, More
But the opposition force, with more enthusiasm than discipline, has struggled to exploit the gains.
Moammar Gadhafi's forces shelled rebels trying to regroup in the dunes outside a key eastern city on Tuesday, and his snipers and tanks roamed the last major opposition-held city in the west.
The international alliance, too, has shown fractures as officials struggle to articulate an endgame.
The plane crashed Monday at 2130 GMT (5:30 p.m. EDT), said Vince Crawley, a spokesman for U.S. Africa Command. 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.
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.
TRIPOLI, Libya — An American fighter jet crashed in Libya's rebel held east, with 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 U.S. and European forces, which over three nights appear to have hobbled Gadhafi's air defenses and artillery and rescued the rebels from impending defeat. But the opposition force, with more enthusiasm than discipline, has struggled to exploit the gains.
Moammar Gadhafi's forces shelled rebels trying to regroup in the dunes outside a key eastern city on Tuesday, and his snipers and tanks roamed the last major opposition-held city in the west.
The international alliance, too, has shown fractures as officials struggle to articulate an endgame.
The plane crashed Monday at 2130 GMT (5:30 p.m. EDT), said Vince Crawley, a spokesman for U.S. Africa Command. 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.
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.
News Source: MSN
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