One of two US crew members rescued after F-15E jet shot down over Iran

## Summary
Photograph: Press TV/X One of two US crew members rescued after F-15E jet shot down over Iran Officials say other remains missing in first downing of US fighter plane since start of war Middle East crisis – live updates One US service member has been rescued after a US F-15E Strike Eagle fighter was shot down over Iran , prompting a frantic effort to locate its two-strong crew, in the first such incident since the war began almost five weeks ago. US officials familiar with the situation said one crew member was still missing late on Friday, after Iranian state media released images of a tail fin and other debris accompanied by an initial claim that an advanced US F-35 had been hit by a new air defence system over central Iran. In a brief interview with NBC News, the president declined to discuss the search and rescue mission but said the incident would not affect negotiations with Iran. “No, not at all,” he said. “No, it’s war. Photograph: Iran state media An Iranian businessman offered to pay a reward worth $60,000 (£45,000) to anyone capturing the crew members alive.

## Article Content
Images of wreckage published by Iranian state media.
Photograph: Press TV/X
View image in fullscreen
Images of wreckage published by Iranian state media.
Photograph: Press TV/X
One of two US crew members rescued after F-15E jet shot down over Iran
Officials say other remains missing in first downing of US fighter plane since start of war
Middle East crisis – live updates
One US service member has been rescued after a US F-15E Strike Eagle fighter was shot down over
Iran
, prompting a frantic effort to locate its two-strong crew, in the first such incident since the war began almost five weeks ago.
US officials familiar with the situation said one crew member was still missing late on Friday, after Iranian state media
released images
of a tail fin and other debris accompanied by an initial claim that an advanced US F-35 had been hit by a new air defence system over central Iran.
Aviation experts said the wreckage pictured was in fact from a F-15E, from the US air force’s 494th squadron, based at RAF Lakenheath in the UK, though it could not at first be confirmed when and where the pictures were taken. Markings on the wreckage appeared to match those on the tips of the tail fins of Strike Eagles normally based in the UK.
View image in fullscreen
An F-15E in the air in 2020.
Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA
US officials later confirmed off the record that an F-15E had been brought down and the Pentagon was scrambling to find the crew before the Iranians. There was no official comment from the
US military
about the incident.
The downing of a US fighter jet comes just days after Donald Trump delivered a bellicose national address in which he claimed the US had “beaten and completely decimated Iran” and the conflict was “nearing completion”.
“We have all the cards. They have none,” the US president declared on Wednesday.
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Trump had been briefed but she did not offer any additional information. In a brief interview with NBC News, the president declined to discuss the search and rescue mission but said the incident would not affect negotiations with Iran. “No, not at all,” he said. “No, it’s war. We’re in war.”
Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency said on Friday that Tehran had rejected a US proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire, citing an unnamed source.
Details of the rescue mission were few but it is likely to have been a high-risk operation with rescue aircraft potentially exposed to fire from the ground. The status of the second crew member was unclear, with rescue efforts continuing as evening fell in Iran.
Subsequent footage filmed in Iran showed a US C-130 Hercules and a HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter flying low in south-west Iran, and at one point refuelling together during their rescue operation.
View image in fullscreen
Images taken from Iran showing helicopters refuelling.
Photograph: Iran state media
An Iranian businessman offered to pay a reward worth $60,000 (£45,000) to anyone capturing the crew members alive. And a presenter on an Iranian TV channel, based in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, a mountainous region in the south-west of the country, urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police and promised a reward for anyone who did.
That gave a clue to the location of the incident. Geolocated footage of low-flying rescue aircraft indicated planes flying near Behbahan, in the neighbouring province of Khuzestan, around 30 miles from the Gulf coast.
The Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf , ridiculed the US, posting on social media: “After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, this brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from ‘regime change’ to: ‘Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please?’”
No US troops have so far been taken prisoner by Iran. Thirteen American service personnel have been killed and 300 wounded during a campaign in which more than 12,300 targets in Iran have been bombed by the US alone.
A social media account claiming to be linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards posted a picture of an
ejector seat in a desert landscape
, which appeared to be consistent with the ACES II type used in F-15Es. Justin Bronk, an aviation expert from Rusithe Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), said: “If genuine, it would suggest that at least one of the two aircrew did eject safely.”
View image in fullscreen
Picture of an ejector seat posted by Revolutionary Guards.
Photograph: X @IRGCIntelli
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that the pilot of the jet had been taken into custody, contradicting Tehran’s initial claim that the pilot had probably died in the incident. But nothing then emerged to verify the revised Iranian statement.
The New York Times reported that a second US air force combat plane crashed in the Persian Gulf region on Friday, but the lone pilot was safely rescued.
The A-10 Warthog attack plane went down near the strait of Hormuz at roughly the same time as the air force F-15E was shot down over Iran,

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- Photograph: Press TV/X One of two US crew members rescued after F-15E jet shot down over Iran Officials say other remains missing in first downing of US fighter plane since start of war Middle East crisis – live updates One US service member has been rescued after a US F-15E Strike Eagle fighter was shot down over Iran , prompting a frantic effort to locate its two-strong crew, in the first such incident since the war began almost five weeks ago.

### Areas for Consideration
- Details of the rescue mission were few but it is likely to have been a high-risk operation with rescue aircraft potentially exposed to fire from the ground.
- The status of the second crew member was unclear, with rescue efforts continuing as evening fell in Iran.
- Late on Thursday, the US president reiterated his threat to bomb Iran’s infrastructure, hours after he claimed credit for an attack on a newly built 136-metre-high (446ft) suspension bridge between Tehran and Karaj that killed eight people and injured 95. “Our Military, the greatest and most powerful (by far!) anywhere in the World, hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran.

### Implications
- Aviation experts said the wreckage pictured was in fact from a F-15E, from the US air force’s 494th squadron, based at RAF Lakenheath in the UK, though it could not at first be confirmed when and where the pictures were taken.
- In a brief interview with NBC News, the president declined to discuss the search and rescue mission but said the incident would not affect negotiations with Iran. “No, not at all,” he said. “No, it’s war.
- The Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf , ridiculed the US, posting on social media: “After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, this brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from ‘regime change’ to: ‘Hey!
- A particular concern, they said, was threats made by the US to Iran’s energy infrastructure. “International law protects from attack objects indispensable to the survival of civilians, and the attacks threatened by Trump, if implemented, could entail war crimes.” A power and desalination plant in Kuwait was damaged in an attack on Friday, though Iran blamed Israel for the attack.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers iran, iranian, media topics. Notable strengths include discussion of iran. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1407.