WE GOT HIM: Missing F-15 Crew Member Who Got Shot Down Over Iran Has Been Rescued
They’re going to make a movie about this rescue.
An F-15 fighter jet was shot down over Iranian airspace on Good Friday.
One pilot was recovered, but the other was missing. A massive
search-and-rescue operation commenced, leading to another aircraft, an
A-10 Warthog, taking fire and ditching in the Persian Gulf. That pilot
was safely rescued.
To recap, from the standpoint of local time:
Shot down early on Good Friday. Rescued Easter Sunday morning.
If it were a movie plot, we'd roll our eyes at it for being too on the nose but here we are in real life... https://t.co/YxPKiVdGJB
There’s
been a flood of conflicting reports about the operation, from extended
gun battles between American and Iranian forces to Al-Jazeera, of all
outlets, getting the scoop on the successful rescue of the second F-15
crew member, although they later clarified that American personnel were
still in danger. It took more than a day to finally locate the weapons
systems officer. President Trump posted on social media about the
successful rescue mission and said no American warfighters would be left
behind. The New York Times quoted a senior military official calling
this rescue one of the most dangerous and complex in the history of US
special forces operations.
🚨 🚨 🚨 TRUMP: “WE GOT HIM!” WE WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AMERICAN WARFIGHTER BEHIND!” pic.twitter.com/XovS8v31QE
🚨
🚨 BREAKING UPDATE: The second crew member of the downed F-15E has been
rescued, and he along with the rescue team that extracted him from
behind enemy lines in Iran are all safely out of the country. pic.twitter.com/kWdqGCizeF
Fox
News can confirm that the 2nd crew member of the downed F15E fighter
jet has been rescued and he and the members of the rescue team that
extracted him from behind enemy lines in Iran are all safely out of
Iran. That according to two senior US officials and multiple well… https://t.co/NKsLfayT53
BREAKING:
A U.S. official tells Al Jazeera that both crew members of a downed
F-15E in Iran have been recovered following a “heavy firefight,” though
the rescue operation continues as teams work to safely extract them.
Al
Jazeera has issued an update saying that the missing weapons systems
officer has been confirmed rescued, however the operation is still in
progress and the crew is not yet safe. https://t.co/qbVH0uUlPypic.twitter.com/GkE6OsQ5nZ
Axios: --"the F-15 pilot and weapons systems officer both made contact via their comms systems after ejecting" --"It took more than a day to locate and rescue the second crew member" --"On Saturday, the second crew member was located and a rescue operation began — with the IRGC…
U.S.
forces rescued an American aviator trapped in Iran in a daring mission
early Sunday morning, according to two U.S. officials. The crew member
had been stuck in Iran for more than 24 hours. A specialized commando
force extracted the crew member with the help of air cover, one of the
officials said.
All forces involved in the rescue are safely out
of Iranian airspace, according to the officials. The aviator, who has
not yet been identified, was one of two aircrew flying in an F-15E
Strike Eagle when it was shot down by Iranian forces on Friday.
A
U.S. military team rescued the other crew member on Friday and that
person is now safe. The rescue comes less than two days before President
Trump’s deadline for Iran to negotiate a deal with the United States or
open the Strait of Hormuz.
The
downing of the F-15E fighter jet marks the first time a U.S. fighter
jet has been shot down in combat in over 20 years, retired Air Force
Brig. Gen. Houston Cantwell, a former F-16 fighter pilot, told The
Associated Press.
At least four U.S. fighter jets have been shot
down since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, but three of those were in a
friendly-fire incident, the Pentagon said. On March 1, three American
F-15s were "mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses," U.S. Central
Command said at the time, and there were no casualties from that
incident.
CBS News national security analyst Aaron MacLean on
Friday provided insight on how the search and rescue operation for the
missing F-15E crew member might play out, explaining the U.S. military
uses highly trained forces known as Air Force Pararescuemen who are
"dedicated" for such missions.
The missing crew member would have
had first-aid gear and "training in how to administer self-care in case
they're injured," MacLean explained, and would be equipped with
communications gear to "let their chain of command know that they are
OK, and ideally participate in their own rescue."
Iranian state media offered a cash reward for whoever captured the second aviator.
Finding
the downed airman, who had been hiding with little more than a pistol
as defense, had been the U.S. military’s highest priority over the last
48 hours.
The mission to save the crew member employed hundreds of
special forces troops, dozens of U.S. warplanes, helicopters, and
cyber, space and other intelligence capabilities.
U.S. attack
aircraft dropped bombs and opened fire on Iranian convoys to keep them
away from the area where the airman was hiding. As U.S. forces converged
on the downed airman, a firefight erupted, two former senior military
officials briefed on the operation said.
The airman was equipped with a beacon and a secure communication device for coordinating with forces mounting the rescue.
A
senior U.S. military official described the mission to rescue the
airman as one of the most challenging and complex in the history of U.S.
special operations.
In a final twist after the weapons officer
was rescued, two transport planes that would carry the commandos and the
airmen to safety got stuck at a remote base in Iran. Commanders decided
to fly in three new planes to extract all the U.S. military personnel
and the airmen, and they blew up the two disabled planes rather than
have them fall into Iranian hands.
The F-15E fighter jet was shot
down in a region of Iran where there is significant opposition to the
Iranian government As a result, the airman may have been able to rely on
locals for shelter and assistance.
The crash also drew the
attention of Iranian military forces, who were reported to have been
scouring the area. The Iranian government asked locals for help finding
the downed airman, and had offered a reward for the airman’s capture.
The
C.I.A. often also plays a role in making contact with civilians willing
to help vulnerable troops stay alive, a process known as
“unconventional assisted recovery.”
CIA executed a misinformation campaign to confuse the Iranians:
🚨A
senior Trump administration official told me that prior to locating the
weapons systems officer and the U.S. military rescue operation, the CIA
first launched a deception campaign spreading word inside Iran that
U.S. forces had already found him and were moving him on the… https://t.co/2CG2yqCic0
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