President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House before signing an executive order Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Alex Brandon/AP
A U.S. Air Force officer, whose aircraft was downed in Iran, was successfully rescued by American forces early Sunday after evading capture for over a day in hostile territory, President Trump revealed on social media.
“The U.S. Military deployed dozens of aircraft, equipped with the world’s most lethal weapons, to rescue him. He sustained injuries, but he will recover,” Trump stated on Truth Social.
The officer’s F-15 fighter jet was shot down on Friday over western Iran. Trump described the mission to rescue him as “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History.”
According to Trump, the airman, a colonel, found himself “behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran.”
He was one of two crew members who ejected after their jet was hit. While the pilot was rescued shortly after, the colonel, who was the weapons officer, could not be immediately reached.
The U.S. military initiated a large-scale rescue operation. Trump noted on Truth Social that it entailed the deployment of numerous aircraft.
According to a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity, three of the rescue aircraft flying at low altitudes were also targeted by Iranian fire.
One of these was an A-10 Warthog. The pilot managed to continue flying until reaching Kuwaiti airspace, where he ejected and was subsequently rescued. Two helicopters were also struck by Iranian fire but were able to return safely to their base, the official reported.
Several videos that surfaced over the weekend depicted planes and helicopters resembling American search and rescue aircraft operating in southwestern Iran. NPR verified the location of one video to a bridge in Khuzestan province, situated approximately 100 miles inland in a mountainous region.
Trump praised the rescue operations as evidence “that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies.” However, the fact that the pilots were shot down initially has led some analysts to question this claim, which Trump has reiterated.
The two fighter jets were the first to be shot down in more than two decades, with the last occurrence in 2003 during the Iraq War.
In mid-March, a U.S. F-35 aircraft was struck by a missile, resulting in significant damage to the plane and injuring the pilot. NPR learned that the F-35 managed to return to base but required a hard landing.
Since the onset of the conflict with Iran six weeks ago, 13 U.S. service members have perished in airstrikes and an aircraft refueling crash in Iraq. An attack on a Saudi airbase left over a dozen U.S. troops injured, several of them critically.
Greg Myre in Washington contributed to reporting.
