A U.S. crew member who went missing after an F-15E was downed over remote terrain in Iran was recovered by American forces early Sunday local time, multiple U.S. officials told CBS News. The jet’s pilot had been rescued on Friday.
President Trump celebrated the recovery on Truth Social, posting “WE GOT HIM!” and calling the mission “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History.” He identified the rescued airman as a respected colonel who sustained injuries but is expected to recover, and said the military deployed dozens of aircraft “armed with the most lethal weapons in the World” to retrieve him.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for the strike, saying the aircraft was downed in southwestern Iran. Iranian media published photos of wreckage that experts said was consistent with an American F-15E.
U.S. officials have said the aircraft carried a two-person crew. The pilot ejected and was picked up by military helicopters on Friday, though the recovery helicopter came under small-arms fire and several crew members were wounded. An A-10 involved in the search was struck and damaged; its pilot ejected over the Persian Gulf and was retrieved.
The second crew member — a weapons systems officer — remained missing after Friday’s events. The U.S. military intensified efforts to find him, focusing on his locator beacon after the crew member’s signal was detected. Trump temporarily paused other operations in Iran to prioritize the search and ordered hundreds of special operations personnel to converge on the location.
U.S. commandos carried out a complex recovery mission that involved dozens of special forces operators and scores of warplanes and helicopters, U.S. and White House officials told CBS News. The New York Times first reported the successful extraction. After his recovery the airman was flown to Kuwait for medical treatment.
According to officials, the rescue used heavy fires and munitions to keep Iranian forces away from the area where the missing airman was hiding; while stranded he reportedly had only a handgun for self-defense. Two transport aircraft that were to support the extraction could not take off from a remote Iranian base and were destroyed to prevent them from being seized. U.S. forces departed Iran aboard three additional aircraft, which left in quick succession for Kuwait, and the mission was completed just before midnight with all personnel clear of hostile airspace.
A senior administration official said the CIA played a central role in locating and recovering the missing airman. The agency reportedly ran a deception operation inside Iran, feeding false reports that the airman had already been found and was being moved, while using its intelligence capabilities to pinpoint his position in a mountain crevice. The precise location was provided to the Pentagon and the White House and was tracked in real time during the extraction.
Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Houston Cantwell, a former F-16 pilot, told The Associated Press the downing appears to be the first time a U.S. fighter has been shot down in combat in more than two decades. U.S. Central Command has said at least four U.S. fighters have been downed since the Iran war began Feb. 28, though three were the result of friendly-fire incidents. On March 1, three American F-15s were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses, the command said; there were no casualties in that episode.
Until Sunday’s announcement, the White House had largely withheld public comment on the search. Trump told The Independent on Friday he could not discuss possible responses if the crew member were captured, and later said the administration’s silence had been intended to protect the ongoing recovery operation. On Saturday he also issued a 48-hour warning to Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face severe repercussions, saying “all Hell will reign down on them.” Disruption of the strait, which handles roughly 20% of global oil shipments, has contributed to rising fuel prices worldwide.
Layla Ferris and Tucker Reals contributed to this report.