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Downed F-15E WSO rescued by US in complex CSAR mission
The weapon systems officer (WSO) of the US Air Force (USAF) F-15E Strike Eagle shot down over Iran has been saved by US forces in a high-risk combat search and rescue (CSAR) mission deep inside hostile territory.
Media outlets reported that the second crew member of the F-15E was taken to a hospital in Kuwait for medical treatment after being recovered in southwestern Iran early on Apr. 5.
Media reports said two transport planes that were supposed to be part of the mission failed to leave a remote base in Iran and were destroyed to keep Iran’s military from obtaining them. There is no information available on whether there were any casualties from the mission.
“We got him. He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine,” US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social shortly after word of the CSAR mission was made public.
“Mission accomplished,” a US official told RFE/RL following the operation.
The Strike Eagle WSO was recovered in a complex, multi-layered rescue effort involving US Special Operations forces and other military units.
Both the rescued airman and the recovery team have since safely exited Iran, according to US officials.
As reported, the F-15E was downed by Iranian air defenses on Apr. 3. The pilot was recovered within hours of ejecting from the crippled jet.
Downed F-15E WSO used SERE training to avoid capture
The Strike Eagle was hit during a nighttime mission over southwestern Iran. After both crew members ejected, they established contact with US forces using emergency communications equipment.
Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) training was used by WSO to avoid capture. He activated an emergency beacon to guide rescuers after he moved away from the wreckage and took cover on elevated terrain.
The downed airman was being actively searched by US officials said Iranian forces, including members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated Basij units. US forces engaged to keep Iranian units at bay after the American rescue teams faced attempts to intercept the operation.
Fighting occurred on the ground during the rescue. No US personnel were killed. Casualties among Iranian forces involved in the search effort were shown in videos circulating from local witnesses.
A source familiar with the mission told Fox News, noting that multiple branches of the US military were involved. “It was a very complex operation to retrieve the downed service member,” the source said.
USAF Pararescuemen, supported by layered air and ground assets, were among the elite rescue personnel involved in the operation.
CSAR mission for downed Strike Eagle crew members
Two USAF HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopters involved in the CSAR mission were hit by Iranian fire. The helicopter carrying the recovered pilot was hit by small arms fire, wounding crew members of the helicopter on board. However, both helicopters landed safely.
As already reported, IRGC claimed to have shot down a USAF F-35 Lightning II fighter jet flying over central Iran by means of a new air defense system. However, the images showing the wreckage that were published by Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency and shared by @Osittechinal on X showed featured a paint scheme that does not appear consistent with what of an F-35A, but with that of an F-15E Strike Eagle.
Specifically, an F-15E belonging to the 494th Fighter Squadron of the 48th Fighter Wing based at RAF Lakenheath, UK, as the red coloring visible on the wreckage aligns with tail markings on F-15s from the same squadron.
The F-15E represented the first manned American aircraft downed over Iran during Operation Epic Fury.
CSAR mission for downed Strike Eagle crew members
The F-15E shooting down was later confirmed off the record by US officials familiar with the situation who stated that the Pentagon was scrambling to find the crew before the Iranians.
In fact, a US C-130 Hercules and HH-60 helicopters flying low and at one point refuelling together were featured in a video filmed in Iran. A-10 Warthogs provided top cover for the US air assets involved in the CSAR mission effort.
An A-10 performing the Sandy role for the CSAR mission crashed near the Strait of Hormuz at around the same time that an F-15E was shot down over Iran. The pilot from the A-10 was safely rescued.
The A-10 and F-15E losses follow a USAF E-3G destroyed on Mar. 27, 2026 along with multiple United States service members wounded and multiple KC-135 Stratotankers damaged during the Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base.
On Mar. 23 a USAF F-35A pilot was wounded by shrapnel after his Lightning II was hit over. Other US air assets damaged or lost during Operation Epic Fury, are 5 KC-135s damaged in Iranian Attack on a Saudi Air Base on Mar. 13, one KC-135 lost in Iraq and one damaged that safely landed in Israel on Mar. 12 and three F-15E Strike Eagles shot down by friendly fire of a Kuwaiti F/A-18 on Mar. 2. Several MQ-9 Reaper drones have been lost during Operation Epic Fury too.
Photo credit: Airman Bre Lewis / U.S. Air Force
