A spokesman for the Landstuhl medical centre in southwest Germany said the family arrived at nearby Ramstein air base at 7:00 am after an overnight flight from Charleston, West Virginia.

They were then taken straight to Landstuhl, which is only a few kilometres away. An army press liaison officer travelled with them.

Speaking to reporters before boarding the plane at Charleston, Lynch's mother Deadra said: "I'm real happy about it. ... It's going to be sad, too, because of the circumstances, but ... I can't wait."

Colonel David Rubenstein, the military commander at Landstuhl, said Friday that Lynch was recovering and undergoing a series of operations.

The 19-year-old's dramatic rescue last week has turned her into a national hero in the US press, but there are conflicting reports of her injuries.

Rubenstein said they included fractures to her right arm, both legs, her right foot and her right ankle, as well as head and spinal injuries, but not gunshot or knife wounds.

Iraqi forces ambushed Lynch's company after it took a wrong turn near the southern city of Nasiriyah on March 23.

Initial press reports had quoted a US official as saying she had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and watched other soldiers in her unit die around her in fighting when she was captured.

Her family said doctors had told them she had not been shot, confirmed by Rubenstein, although Lynch's cousin Dan Little has since told CNN that thorough examination had revealed "small-caliber, low-velocity entry and exit wounds."

US special forces who rescued her found the bodies of eight of her comrades who had initially been listed as missing in action.

Lynch is expected to be repatriated back to the United States after further treatment at Landstuhl, the biggest US military hospital outside the country.

SPACE.WIRE