US special operations forces have rescued the second crew member of an F-15 fighter jet downed over Iran on Friday, successfully extracting the officer from hostile territory after a day-long search, Axios reported on Sunday, April 5.
The rescue followed a high-stakes race against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which had also mobilized units to capture the American officer in southwestern Iran. According to US officials, the officer sustained injuries during ejection but managed to evade capture by hiding in a mountainous region for over 24 hours.
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To assist the mission, the CIA reportedly launched a deception campaign, spreading false information within Iran that the officer had already been found and evacuated to divert IRGC search efforts.
US President Donald Trump confirmed the successful mission on Truth Social, describing it as “one of the boldest search and rescue operations in U.S. history.” Trump and senior members of his administration reportedly monitored the Saturday operation from the White House Situation Room.
The F-15 was downed by enemy fire on Friday, April 3 – the first such combat loss of the war. While the pilot was rescued shortly after the crash, the weapons systems officer remained missing until Saturday’s specialized rescue mission, which was conducted with heavy air support.
The loss of the F-15 occurred on the same day Iranian forces shot down a US A-10 Thunderbolt II over the Persian Gulf. The A-10 pilot managed to steer the aircraft out of Iranian airspace before ejecting and was rescued by US forces near the Strait of Hormuz.
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