Late Saturday night, reports confirmed that the second crew member from the downed F15E was recovered from Iranian territory and safely evacuated, and the president issued a public statement celebrating the operation. The account that follows pieces together the rescue, official comments, battlefield details, and eyewitness reports while keeping direct quotes intact. This is an update on a complex military retrieval that involved multiple branches and risky ground operations. Below are the key developments and verbatim statements from the president and media sources.
Initial dispatches said the Weapons Systems Officer ejected with the pilot when their F15E Strike Eagle was struck in southwest Iran, and that a layered US recovery effort brought the second airman out of hostile territory. Officials told reporters the rescued crew member and the extraction team were out of Iran and safe. The mission came after intense efforts to locate and extract personnel after the aircraft went down.
Fox News can confirm that the 2nd crew member of the downed F15E fighter jet has been rescued and he and the members of the rescue team that extracted him from behind enemy lines in Iran are all safely out of Iran. That according to two senior US officials and multiple well placed sources in the region. The Weapons Systems Officer ejected along with the pilot when their F15E Strike Eagle they were flying was struck Thursday night (early Friday local time) in southwest Iran.
President Trump released a message that framed the rescue as a daring, carefully planned military achievement and declared the airman safe. His statement emphasized coordination at the highest levels and credited the military with overwhelming air superiority. The president also linked the mission to prior successful rescues and framed it as proof that Americans will not be abandoned on the battlefield.
My fellow Americans, over the past several hours, 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 president’s full text described the rescue in vivid terms, crediting commanders and warfighters who monitored and executed the plan. He wrote that dozens of aircraft armed with powerful weapons supported the extraction, and confirmed the rescued airman sustained injuries but would recover. The statement also named this moment as unprecedented in recent memory for recovering two pilots from enemy territory without American fatalities.
FROM PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
WE GOT HIM! My fellow Americans, over the past several hours, 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! This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour, but was never truly alone because his Commander in Chief, Secretary of War, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and fellow Warfighters were monitoring his location 24 hours a day, and diligently planning for his rescue. At my direction, the U.S. Military sent dozens of aircraft, armed with the most lethal weapons in the World, to retrieve him. He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine. This miraculous Search and Rescue Operation comes in addition to a successful rescue of another brave Pilot, yesterday, which we did not confirm, because we did not want to jeopardize our second rescue operation. This is the first time in military memory that two U.S. Pilots have been rescued, separately, deep in Enemy Territory. WE WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AMERICAN WARFIGHTER BEHIND! The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies. This is a moment that ALL Americans, Republican, Democrat, and everyone else, should be proud of and united around. We truly have the best, most professional, and lethal Military in the History of the World. GOD BLESS AMERICA, GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS, AND HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!
Field accounts and reporting filled in tactical details: the rescued weapons officer reportedly used SERE training to evade capture, moving to higher ground after escaping the wreckage. Special operations teams, including pararescue units and other elite forces, executed a complex, multi-layered recovery under threat from local hostile actors. Sources described firefights on the ground and cited footage allegedly showing casualties among Iranian forces who had been searching for the downed airman.
The WSO used the SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) training to evade capture, hiding on an elevated ridge after hiking away from the wreckage and putting out an emergency beacon.) US Special Operations rescue forces to include PJs (United States Air Force Pararescuemen (PJs) and many layers of elite rescue forces took part in the complex, layered mission to both find the crew member and also keep the Iranian forces who were hunting the American weapons system operator at bay. There are videos that have appeared from local eyewitnesses that show what appear to have been injured and dead Iranian members of the IRGC and Basij who were looking for the downed American crew member. Fox has learned there was fighting on the ground but no Americans killed during the operation. “It was a very complex operation to retrieve the downed service member,” a well placed source briefed on the operation told me. Many different branches of the US military were involved in the rescue.
International reporting described intense clashes as both Iranian forces and U.S.-aligned teams searched for the missing crew members, with local accounts mentioning heavy firefights near the crash site. One narrative noted a bounty and mobilized local groups racing to seize the airman, escalating the urgency of the U.S. response. Officials reported strikes and searching activity in the vicinity of where the jet went down, reinforcing how contested the area had become.
An American airman who went missing after Iran shot down an F-15 fighter jet has been rescued after a “heavy firefight,” a US government official told Al Jazeera.
Although the weapons officer has been recovered, it is understood the operation is still ongoing and the crew may still be in Iranian territory and in danger.
It comes after reports of air strikes overnight in Dehdasht, near where the aircraft was shot down.
Two crew members had ejected from the plane after Tehran’s forces downed it on Friday, one of whom was located shortly after the crash, but the whereabouts of the second were unknown.
The ensuing manhunt for the missing weapons officer triggered a race between American forces and armed Iranian nomads motivated by a £50,000 bounty offered by the Islamic Republic for the airman’s capture.
They kept going back in.
Both crew home.
The update landed as many Americans observed the holiday weekend, with reactions focused on relief and gratitude for the service members involved. Officials continue to monitor the broader situation and provide care to the rescued airman. This account will remain subject to official confirmation and further details from military briefings as they become available.
UPDATE 4/5/26 12:48 a.m.
Adding this tweet because it’s perfect:
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