U.S. rescues missing crew member in Iran after fighter jet shot down
Posted by Sia on April 5, 2026, 12:41 am ADMIN
U.S. rescues missing crew member in Iran after fighter jet shot down
“WE GOT HIM!” President Donald Trump posted Sunday just after midnight, announcing the safe return of the missing airman and all who risked their lives to save him.
April 5, 2026 at 12:22 a.m. EDT14 minutes ago - By Alex Horton, Tara Copp and Ellen Nakashima
U.S. forces have rescued the missing crew member of a fighter jet that was shot down over Iran, and all personnel involved in the rescue have returned safely, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social early Sunday.
“WE GOT HIM!” the president said in a post on Truth Social. “The United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History, for one of our incredible Crew Member Officers, who also happens to be a highly respected Colonel, and who I am thrilled to let you know is now SAFE and SOUND!”
The intense search-and-rescue operation launched Friday after the Air Force F-15E jet crashed and both crew members ejected. While one crew member was quickly rescued, the search continued into Saturday for the second.
The mission was high risk, with U.S. C-130s and rescue helicopters flying low and slow over Iran’s mountainous terrain to locate the missing airman, who served as the weapons systems officer on the Air Force F-15E jet.
As the search was ongoing, Iranian television broadcast a statement offering a reward for the recovery of the downed crew members. Another broadcast called on residents to “target” any Americans they found. IRIB, the state broadcaster, said on social media that “many people” had gone to the crash site and that the Iranian military had “called on the people NOT TO LET anyone mistreat the pilot.”
Around the same time that the fighter jet was shot down on Friday, an A-10 Thunderbolt II attack plane was struck by incoming fire from Iran. Before ejecting, the pilot was able to get the aircraft to Kuwaiti airspace and was also rescued Friday.
In addition, two of the rescue helicopters that had been searching for the missing F-15 crew member took ground fire by Iran during the operation. Some of the service members on board were injured, but all returned safely to base, U.S. officials earlier told The Washington Post. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The incident marked the first known instance of an American crewed aircraft being brought down inside hostile territory since the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran began five weeks ago.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The truth social "tweet" (LOL) was most certainly NOT written by trump but
by one of his staff. Other than a run on sentence and a few scattered caps out of place, it shows no typical markers of his terrible command of English or his expected misspellings.
on April 5, 2026, 12:41 am
