https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-rescues-airman-whose-f-15-was-downed-iran-us-officials-say-2026-04-05/U.S. forces staged the audacious rescue of an airman behind enemy lines after Iran downed his fighter jet, officials said on Sunday, resolving a crisis for President Donald Trump as he weighs escalating the war.The airman rescued by special operations forces, who Trump said was a colonel, was the weapons-systems officer on the downed F-15, a U.S. official told Reuters."Over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History," Trump said in a statement, adding that the airman was injured but "he will be just fine."The officer was the second of two crew members on the warplane that Iran said on Friday had been brought down by its air defenses. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said several aircraft were destroyed during the U.S. rescue mission, Tasnim news agency reported.Reuters reported on Friday that the first crew member had been retrieved, triggering a high-profile search by both Iran and the United States for the remaining airman.Iranian officials had urged citizens to help find him, hoping to gain leverage against Washington in the war Trump and Israel launched on February 28.Trump has threatened to escalate the conflict in the coming days with attacks on Iran's energy infrastructure.Had Iran captured the airman, the ensuing hostage crisis could have shifted American public perception of a conflict that opinion polls show was already unpopular.Trump said the airman was rescued "in the treacherous mountains of Iran" in what he said was the first time in military memory that two U.S. pilots had been rescued, separately, deep in enemy territory.The official told Reuters that as the weapons-systems officer was moved from near a mountain to a transport aircraft parked within Iran, U.S. forces had to destroy at least one of the aircraft because it had malfunctioned.
The rescue effort, involving dozens of military aircraft, encountered fierce resistance from Iran.Reuters reported on Friday that two Black Hawk helicopters involved in the search were hit by Iranian fire but escaped from Iranian airspace.Separately, a pilot ejected from an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft after it was hit over Kuwait and crashed, the officials said, though the extent of crew injuries was unclear.Still, Trump was triumphant."The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies," he said in his statement.U.S. air crews are trained in what to do if they go down behind enemy lines, measures known as Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape,, opens new tab but few are fluent in Persian and face a challenge in staying undetected while seeking rescue.The conflict has killed 13 U.S. military service members, with more than 300 wounded, U.S. Central Command says. No U.S. troops have been taken prisoner by Iran.While Trump has repeatedly sought to portray the Iranian military as being in tatters, they have repeatedly been able to hit U.S. aircraft.Reuters reported on U.S. intelligence showing that Iran retains large amounts of missile and drone capability. Until just over a week ago, the U.S. could only determine with certainty that it had destroyed about one-third of Iran's missile arsenal.The status of about another third was less clear, but bombings probably damaged, destroyed or buried those missiles in underground tunnels and bunkers, Reuters sources said.The U.S. and Israeli war on Iran has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands and hitting the global economy with soaring energy prices that are fueling fears of inflation.
More details on the rescue operation (1/2):>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 placed sources in the region. The Weapons Systems Officer ejected along with the pilot when their F15E Strike Eagle they were flying was struck Thursday night (early Friday local time) in southwest Iran. >The WSO used the SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) training to evade capture, hiding on an elevated ridge after hiking away from the wreckage and putting out an emergency beacon.) US Special Operations rescue forces to include PJs (United States Air Force Pararescuemen (PJs) and many layers of elite rescue forces took part in the complex, layered mission to both find the crew member and also keep the Iranian forces who were hunting the American weapons system operator at bay. There are videos that have appeared from local eyewitnesses that show what appear to have been injured and dead Iranian members of the IRGC and Basij who were looking for the downed American crew member. Fox has learned there was fighting on the ground but no Americans killed during the operation. “It was a very complex operation to retrieve the downed service member,” a well placed source briefed on the operation told me. Many different branches of the US military were involved in the rescue.
>>1503688>Fox News can confirm the A10 Warthog that crashed Friday was involved in providing cover for the rescue teams searching for the pilot. That A10 crashed in Kuwait (first reported by ABC Friday) but the A10 pilot managed to eject safely and was rescued. There was destruction of aircraft which have sensitive equipment on board, I am told, all part of this complex CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue) mission.>The F15E was pretty much destroyed on impact. Two rescue helicopters were hit by enemy fire on Friday and crew members onboard were injured by enemy fire but managed to make it out of Iran.https://x.com/JenGriffinFNC/status/2040637421373505989
>>1503666>>1503667
>>1503701Stop shilling the dredge report on /news/
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-says-several-enemy-flying-objects-destroyed-during-us-pilot-rescue-mission-2026-04-05/DUBAI, April 5 (Reuters) - Several aircraft were destroyed in the south of Iran's Isfahan province during a U.S. mission to find a stranded airman, Iranian military officials said on Sunday.U.S. officials told Reuters late on Saturday that a second airman whose F-15 jet was downed on Friday in Iran was rescued, a day after the first crew member was recovered.The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here."Additional investigations by experts on the ground revealed that two C-130 military transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters of the US army were destroyed by our forces," the spokesperson of the unified command of Iranian armed forces said.Separate statements by the Iranian army and Revolutionary Guards said an Israeli Hermes-900 drone as well as a U.S. MQ-9 drone were downed in Isfahan province.Reuters could not immediately verify the Iranian accounts.Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said U.S. search operations were conducted from Saturday evening in three different provinces, namely Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, and Isfahan.Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Christina Fincher
>>1503686>>1503710Real fog of war moments
>>1503710Iranian cope, the aircraft were scuttled by the US troops on the way out because they were either unable to take off (shit terrain) or didn't have the range to get out of the country (Little Bird helicopters that had been brought in by C-130 airlift).
Donald "I like soldiers who dont get captured" Trump
>>1503778>two C-130 Hercules transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters>just blow them up bro we can’t take these with us
>>1503778>>1503797On one hand scuttling them is a valid response because it's better to detonate them yourself than risk the enemy capturing them whole. On the other hand, it is absolutely fucking retarded to bring them there in the first place without knowing if you can get them out.
>>1503821That's because trump wants to justify the trillion dollars he's trying to steal from the American people by doing stuff like this.
>>1503821There's a rumor going around that the C-130s were brought in for a failed raid to try to retrieve Iran's nuclear material while the US thought the search for the downed pilots would act as a distraction but they were spotted by the Iranians and got their shit slapped. Trump had been talking about wanting to do something along those lines recently, and there's absolutely zero reason to bring a C-130 on a search and rescue mission, let alone two of them
>>1503847And no casualties, apparently. No casualties in Venezuela either, apparently.
>>1503852>And no casualties, apparentlyWell maybe not in the rescue mission but we are at at least 13 dead. So the whole "no US troops deaths!" bit already went tits up.
>>1503864I was a little bit surprised if they lost two Hercules and two Black Hawks without any casualties it’s quite remarkable. Maybe the Iranians are lying, or maybe the Americans are hiding casualties and will announce them at a later time when it suits their narrative. A bit tinfoil
Look, all I know is our country doesn’t have enough money to provide education or a safety net for people with sudden life altering injuries. We just DONT. This is fine though. God bless America.
>>1503852Given this is trump, it's a given there were casualties and they're just covering it up.
Remember the 100+ elementary school girls that we murdered in February? They’re all dead. We killed them.
>>1503900>think of le chillun!I am not a pedoUnlike you
>>1503967If America can murder the children of her enemies with total impunity so too can the enemies of America, and that’s why the Americans should be doing a full investigation into it and holding responsible those that are responsible. Go read The Prince you nigger
