A US aircraft has crashed in a Libyan field after an apparent mechanical failure, and its pilot has been rescued by rebels, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported on its website today.
The plane is an F-15E Eagle, the Telegraph added in a report from a correspondent on the ground in Libya.
"Just found a crashed US warplane in a field. Believe a mechanical failure brought it down," Telegraph correspondent Rob Crilly said on the Twitter micro-blogging site. "Came down late last night. Crew believed safe," Crilly added in subsequent tweets.
The US military confirmed one of its jets - an Air Force F-15E fighter - crashed in Libya overnight.
"One crewmember has been recovered and the other is "in the process of recovery," a spokesman for the US military Africa Command said today.
The crash was likely caused by mechanical failure and not hostile fire, the spokesman, Vince Crawley, told Reuters news agency.
The aircraft, based out of England, was flying out of Aviano Air Base in Italy when it experienced an equipment malfunction over northeast Libya, a military statement said.
The Telegraph web site showed local Libyans inspecting the charred wreckage of the plane.
Agencies