"An A-10 was hit, it crashed, the pilot was recovered and medivaced out," General Buford Blount said.

"It was hit over Baghdad. He (flew) over the (Tigris) river and he ejected," said Blount, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division.

The aircraft "crashed" into a farm area close to the Euphrates river and is now in friendly hands, Blount said.

US Central Command said earlier that the plane, known as a leading US tank killer, went down near Baghdad airport at about 10:15 am (0615 GMT). It did not immediately give a cause for the crash.

Shortly beforehand AFP correspondents in Baghdad had reported three separate passes by an A-10 aircraft over the administrative district around President Saddam Hussein's main city centre palace.

It was the first time that the "tank killer" plane had been seen over the capital and came as US ground forces were engaged in fierce exchanges with Iraqi troops in the sprawling palace compound.

The A-10 was seen swooping down twice at very low altitude over the northern entrance of the Republican Palace and the nearby planning ministry.

It then returned to open fire a third time on an area beyond the planning ministry, apparently on a road leading to the information ministry.

As a precaution against Iraqi missile attack, the aircraft released decoy flares as it rose in the sky after each pass.

The twin-engine, single-seat A-10, which has been in the US arsenal since October 1975, is designed for close air support and is said to be ideal for use against all ground targets, including tanks and other armored vehicles.

Its Gatling gun can fire 3,900 rounds a minute. The aircraft's other weapons include air-to-surface AGM-65 Maverick and air-to-air AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles as well as 225-kilogram (500-pound) Mk-82 and 900-kilogram (2,000-pound) Mk-84 bombs.

The plane, often referred to as the Warthog because of its appearance, can loiter over a battlefield for hours on end, selecting its targets and destroying them.

SPACE.WIRE