Washington (CNN) -- When a U.S. Air Force fighter jet crashed Monday during a mission over Libya, it quickly set off a chain of events on four continents involving at least nine aircraft and a platoon of Marines. The F-15E Strike Eagle, which is normally based in Britain, had taken off with another F-15E from the U.S. air base in Aviano, Italy. The aircraft were on a mission to attack Libyan air defense systems. According to timelines released by the U.S. Marines and the White House, at about 11:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. ET) Monday, one of the F-15s crashed east of Benghazi, in the heart of rebel-held territory. Adm. Samuel Locklear III, commander of the Operation Odyssey Dawn Joint Task Force, said the crash was the result of equipment malfunction, and early reports indicated that hostile fire was not involved.
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At least nine aircraft, platoon of Marines sprang into action after jet fighter went down
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Marine Ospreys, Harriers, helicopters took off from ships in the Mediterranean
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Harrier dropped bombs to protect pilot; Ospreys landed and pilot was rescued
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Weapons systems officer was found by anti-Gadhafi rebels, is safely out of Libya
At 1:33 a.m. Tuesday (Libya time), 13 minutes after the Harriers arrived over the crash scene -- the @placeholder pilot saw a crowd moving toward him.