A U.S. Air Force officer whose F-15 was shot down over western Iran was rescued by U.S. forces early Sunday after evading capture for more than a day, President Trump said on Truth Social. Trump described the recovery as a daring search-and-rescue operation and said the airman, a colonel serving as a weapons officer, was injured but expected to recover.
According to Trump, dozens of U.S. aircraft armed with advanced weapons took part in the mission to retrieve the officer, who had been behind enemy lines in mountainous terrain. Two crew members ejected when the jet was hit; the pilot was recovered soon after the shoot-down, while the weapons officer remained out of reach, prompting the extensive rescue effort.
A U.S. official, speaking on background, said three aircraft involved in low-altitude rescue operations were struck by Iranian fire. One of those was an A-10 Warthog; its pilot managed to keep the aircraft aloft until reaching Kuwaiti airspace, then ejected and was recovered. Two helicopters were also hit but were able to return to base, the official said.
Multiple videos circulated over the weekend showing aircraft resembling U.S. search-and-rescue planes operating in southwestern Iran. NPR geolocated one clip to a bridge in Khuzestan province, in a mountainous area roughly 100 miles inland from the Gulf coast.
Trump framed the operation as evidence of U.S. air dominance over Iranian skies, a characterization some analysts questioned given that U.S. aircraft were shot down during the engagement. These incidents mark the first U.S. fighter jets downed in more than two decades; the last comparable losses occurred during the 2003 Iraq war.
Earlier in March, a separate U.S. F-35 was struck by a missile, sustaining serious damage and injuring its pilot; that aircraft returned to base but made a hard landing, NPR previously reported.
Since the conflict with Iran began about six weeks ago, U.S. forces have suffered casualties: 13 service members have died in airstrikes and in an aircraft refueling crash in Iraq. An attack on a Saudi airbase also wounded more than a dozen U.S. troops, several seriously.
Greg Myre in Washington contributed to this reporting.