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U.S. rescues aviator shot down in Iran
The United States said Sunday it rescued a service member missing behind enemy lines since Iran downed a fighter jet, as President Donald Trump escalated pressure on Tehran with a new looming deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
A U.S. service member who had been missing since Iran shot down a fighter jet has been rescued, President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post early Sunday.
A frantic U.S. search-and-rescue operation unfolded after the crash of the F-15E Strike Eagle jet on Friday, as Iran also promised a reward for anyone who turned in the "enemy pilot."
A second crew member was rescued earlier.
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What they're saying:
Trump wrote that the "respected colonel" is injured but "will be just fine," adding that he took refuge "in the treacherous mountains of Iran."
A view of wreckage and remains of the downed F-15 fighter jet is seen in Iran on April 05, 2026. (Photo by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Trump added that the rescue involved "dozens of aircraft" and that U.S. had been monitoring his location "24 hours a day, and diligently planning for his rescue."
Trump said he and members of the military will hold a press conference at the White House on Monday.
RELATED: US pilot ejected after fighter jet hit, Iran says
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US fighter jet shot down over Iran, search continues
U.S. forces continue to search in a remote part of the Islamic Republic for an American pilot whose warplane was shot down by Tehran. On Saturday, President Donald Trump made a social media post warning Iran to open the crucial Strait of Hormuz by his Monday deadline and Tehran called his threat "unbalanced and foolish." Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, Jason Harris joins LiveNOW’s Austin Westfall to discuss.
CIA used ‘deception campaign,’ Fox News reports
Dig deeper:
According to Fox News, the CIA deflected enemy attention with a "deception campaign."
The CIA spread word in Iran through multiple sources that U.S. forces had already found the second of two airmen who ejected from their F-15, and were moving him out of Iran in a maritime exfiltration elsewhere, sources told Fox News, but that was designed to buy time to find the stranded weapons system officer.
The CIA picked up a distress signal, passing the intelligence on to the Pentagon and White House, which ordered the immediate rescue mission, according to sources.
Once the CIA confirmed Saturday morning that this was not a trap, the missing airman was located using advanced technical capabilities.
The U.S. used MQ9 Reaper drones to protect the area around where the airman was hiding and fired on anything that came close to that area and any area where U.S. forces were operating to prevent crowds or any Iranians from approaching, sources confirmed to Fox News.
US F-15E shot down
Timeline:
The search for the crew member began after the F-15E was shot down inside of Iran on Friday. It was the first U.S. aircraft lost in Iranian territory during the war, the Associated Press stated..
The fighter was one of two jets that were reported downed during military operations that day. The Washington Post and Fox News Digital reported that an A-10 Warthog had been hit by enemy fire. Its pilot navigated the plane back to Kuwaiti airspace before ejecting and being rescued.
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US fighter jets shot down: Search for pilot underway
U.S. and Iranian forces are searching for a missing American crew member after a U.S. warplane was shot down. The missing airman, a weapons systems officer, was aboard a U.S. F-15 fighter jet that was downed over southern Iran. One crew member has been successfully rescued, while the search continues for the second. We also know that a separate warplane was also downed, but no word on the conditions of those pilots on those aircrafts. Former Navy Pilot Mathew "Whiz" Buckley weighs in,
The Washington Post report added that two Blackhawk helicopters were also hit and crew members were injured, but they were able to make it back to base.
An anchor on an Iranian state broadcast is reported to have read a televised statement calling on local residents to capture "enemy’s pilot or pilots" and offering a reward for the pilot or pilot’s capture, according to the New York Times report.
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Former Air Force Safety Center investigator Alan Diehl told the Associated Press that a Strike Eagle has an emergency locator in its survival kit. The locator can be activated manually or automatically.
The backstory:
Four U.S. military planes had gone down during the Iran war before Friday’s search-and-rescue operation.
In those previous incidents, three fighter jets were hit by friendly fire over Kuwait and a refueling tanker plane that crashed in Iraq following an incident with another U.S. aircraft.
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Trump gives Iran 48 hours to make a deal
LiveNOW’s Austin West brings retired marine intelligence officer Hal Kempfer into the conversation to discuss.
The KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq while supporting operations in Iran. All six crew members aboard the aircraft died. U.S. officials attributed the crash to an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in "friendly airspace," and said the other plane landed safely.
Separately, three U.S. F-15E fighter jets were mistakenly targeted by friendly Kuwaiti fire. All six crew members ejected safely.
The Source: The Associated Press contributed to this report. The information in this story comes from multiple sources, including two senior U.S. officials and well-placed regional sources who spoke to Fox News, along with reporting from other outlets such as the Associated Press, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. This story was reported from Los Angeles.