GoKawiilOne 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 Strike Eagle takes off for a combat flight last month. Photograph: US air force/Reuters
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 White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Donald Trump had been briefed but she did not offer any additional information.
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.
Subsequent footage filmed in Iran showed a US C-130 Hercules and a HH-60 Pavehawk helicopter flying low in south-west Iran, and at one point refuelling together during their rescue operation. And an Iranian businessman offered to pay a reward worth $60,000 (£45,000) to anyone capturing the crew members alive.
View image in fullscreen Images taken from Iran showing helicopters refuelling. Photograph: Iran state media
Justin Bronk, an aviation expert from the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), said the use of the specialist helicopters “suggested a combat search and rescue mission is under way to locate and extract the two aircrew from the F-15E”.
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