x404.co.uk :: View topic - US warplane crash-lands in Libya

The BBC's Allan Little in Tripoli says the sky above the capital lit up with anti-aircraft fire again on Monday night.

It also sounds like it crashed in the "safer" eastern part of Libya. so its crew would have little risk or torture by Gaddafi. I suspect that they had been picked up by now.

Now, wasn't David Cameron bigging it up on the news all yesterday afternoon, stating that Libya's air defence capability had been destroyed? :roll:

But a rescue mission was mounted for pilot number two, and this is where what could have been comic turned sour. Osprey aircraft came in, all guns blazing, assuming - as the American military tends to do – that this was hostile territory.

Worse than that, several bystanders were injured, amongst them 43-year-old Hamad Abdul Ati. We found him in Jala hospital in Benghazi, with multiple shrapnel and bullet wounds, and a broken arm. He didn’t understand why the Americans had been so aggressive in their rescue mission.

"We consider that whoever is shot down or a prisoner of war, we should save him and hand him over," he told me from his hospital bed. "But another plane shot at me and Hamdy my son. I have shrapnel in my hand."

Hospital staff told us that 20-year-old Hamdy’s injuries were far worse, and he was undergoing an operation to amputate part of one leg.

Pity the crew of one of the rescue helicopters appear to have shot 6 civilians while attempting to pick up one of the pilots.

thats the yanks for you
we come in peace, shoot to kill ...

Author:	belchingmatt [ Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:22 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: US warplane crash-lands in Libya
Well the F15 is a fairly robust aircraft.

Author:	jonbwfc [ Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:52 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: US warplane crash-lands in Libya
And a fairly old one as well, which probably doesn't help. I think the last F-15 airframe was built some time in the early 1990's, which means that aircraft was probably over 20 years old. I know they maintain the very well, but they're not just flying from a to b either. Kind of doesn't surprise me that much.

Author:	Amnesia10 [ Tue Mar 22, 2011 1:01 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: US warplane crash-lands in Libya
It also sounds like it crashed in the "safer" eastern part of Libya. so its crew would have little risk or torture by Gaddafi. I suspect that they had been picked up by now.

Author:	jonbwfc [ Tue Mar 22, 2011 5:21 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: US warplane crash-lands in Libya
Static SAM capability I'd have thought. You can't account for one bloke with a Stinger or SA-18. Or even a plain old everyday AK-47 if you're low enough. However looking at the wreckage on the news reports, some sort of controlled landing does seem to be a possibility - the engines seemed more or less intact, which wouldn't be the case if it had been hit by an IR homing missile. The remains suggest to me it's actually possible the plane was destroyed on the ground - I'd imagine that it's standard practice not to leave a pile of highly classified military tech lying around where just about anybody can find it. SOP is surely to retrieve what you can, then blow up/torch the rest so it's not recoverable by anyone you don't like. Jon

Author:	jonbwfc [ Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:48 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: US warplane crash-lands in Libya
I read that in the BBC report which included that and they said something like 'However, the locals don't hold the US soldiers responsible'. Which I thought was a bit odd. Soldiers on a recovery op generally don't pick fights with people - the SOP is to get in, grab the pilot and get out ASAP. They don't hang around to start firefights. There are standard procedures for suppressing the area as the chopper is landing but they must have known they weren't in directly hostile territory. And anyway, with suppressing fire you're not that bothered about accuracy, you're just trying to get people to keep their heads down. Plus they would have had radio contact with the airman, so he would have (you assume) told them the locals weren't any threat. It is very odd. if they did just go in firing at whoever was there and using explosives for pity's sake, someone's going to be in a world of trouble over it. Even the yanks don't take kindly to their soldiers shooting up civilians at random, plus firing area effect armaments runs the risk of hitting the pilot you're trying to save. Jon

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Author:	JJW009 [ Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:53 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: US warplane crash-lands in Libya
F*cking cowboys.

Author:	MrStevenRogers [ Wed Mar 23, 2011 1:40 am ]
Post subject:	Re: US warplane crash-lands in Libya
thats the yanks for you we come in peace, shoot to kill ...

Author:	l3v1ck [ Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:10 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: US warplane crash-lands in Libya
I hear the Yanks bombed the wreckage last night.

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