Rescue Operation for F-15 Crew in Iran, from Dozens of Fighter Jets to CIA Involvement
The United States military claims to have rescued a fighter jet crew member shot down in Iran. The operation to evacuate the crew was described as highly complex.
Dozens of special forces members, US fighter jets, helicopters, and CIA operatives were deployed in the rescue mission, according to US media reports.
On Sunday (05/04), US President Donald Trump stated on social media: “We have rescued the F-15 crew member who suffered serious injuries and showed great bravery, in the mountains of Iran.”
The incident began on Friday (03/04), when an F-15 jet carrying a weapons systems officer and a pilot was shot down in southern Iran. This was the first time a US fighter jet had been shot down by enemy forces in more than 20 years.
The two US military personnel in the F-15E Strike Eagle managed to eject from the aircraft. The pilot was rescued on the same day, but the second crew member was reported missing.
The Iranian government claimed to have destroyed a US aircraft involved in the rescue operation for the missing US crew member. (Reuters)
The US and Iran then raced to locate the crew member.
Iran insisted on capturing him alive and offered a reward of £50,000 (Rp1.1 billion). A video shared on social media, unverified by the BBC, showed armed civilians searching for him.
After reaching the ground, the crew member had only a pistol to defend himself, US officials said.
According to the US military, the crew member had received training for such situations, including activating marker signals, heading to higher ground, hiding, and establishing communications.
Based on US media reports, the crew member hid in a mountain crevice and limited the use of markers due to fears that the signals could be detected by Iran. He reportedly waited for the rescue team to arrive.
A member of the US Air Force’s pararescue unit is training. The unit was specifically formed to rescue downed aircraft crew in enemy territory. (Getty Images)
The CIA played a key role in the rescue operation, according to a senior Trump administration official who spoke to US media.
The US intelligence agency tracked the crew member’s exact location to the mountain crevice and relayed the information to the Pentagon.
Trump said the crew member’s location was monitored “24 hours a day” by US officials planning the rescue operation. He was “hunted by our enemies, who were getting closer hour by hour,” the President added.
The CIA also employed deception tactics against the enemy, according to US reports, by spreading news within Iran that US forces had located the second crew member.
President Trump stated in a post on Truth Social that the US military “sent dozens of aircraft, armed with the deadliest weapons in the world, to pick him up.”
As US special forces moved towards the stranded crew member, bombs and gunfire were used to keep Iranian forces away from his location, according to US reports.
US media also reported that two transport aircraft for flying out the rescue team were unable to take off from a remote base in Iranian territory. The two aircraft were then destroyed to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. The special forces then flew out using three additional aircraft to retrieve the crew, the report added.
Footage and photos confirmed by BBC Verify show the smoking wreckage of the aircraft in a mountainous area in central Iran, about 50 km southeast of Isfahan city.
The Iranian military said two US military transport planes C-130 and two Black Hawk helicopters were destroyed during the operation and that “a deception and escape mission at an abandoned airport in southern Isfahan was completely foiled.”
Iranian state media said on Sunday (05/04) that forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had shot down a US drone in Isfahan while it was searching for the missing crew member. The BBC has not been able to confirm either version of events near Isfahan.
BBC
Before midnight US time, the rescue operation was completed and the crew member was flown to Kuwait for medical treatment, US officials said.
Trump said the officer “suffered serious injuries,” but “he will be fine.”
The US government has not disclosed any information about the exact location where the crew member was rescued or his identity.
Former US military official William Fallon, a retired US Navy admiral, told the BBC that “time of day” likely favoured the rescue mission.
“Darkness is better for our people because they are accustomed to operating at night.”
Fallon said that when flying over enemy territory, “you have to be prepared to be the one who gets hit.”
Moments before 00:00 EDT (04:00 GMT) or on Sunday (05/04) at 11:00 WIB, US media reported that the second crew member had been found.
Trump wrote on social media that the US “WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AMERICAN WARFIGHTER BEHIND!”
Iran insists the operation was a failure.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for Iran’s main military command, said in a video that several US military aircraft were forced to make emergency landings.
“That foolish President, trapped in the swamp of war and aggression…”