The weapons system officer aboard an F-15E shot down over Iran in April said the impact felt like the fighter was “hit by a freight train” when a shoulder fired missile struck the aircraft.
The strike forced both crew members aboard “Dude 44” to eject over Iran’s Zagros Mountains. The ensuing rescue stretched across three days, placed almost 100 American troops inside Iran and cost the United States several additional aircraft.
The officer, identified only by his callsign “Bravo,” waited 50 hours for rescue. He discussed the ordeal Sunday evening on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” providing the first substantial update on the mission in nearly six months.
The report also included remarks from U.S. Central Command chief Navy Adm. Brad Cooper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine. Key details, including the crew members’ identities, remain undisclosed.
Bravo appeared on camera with the nametapes on his uniform obscured. President Donald Trump had previously identified him as a colonel, while the F-15E pilot, known as “Alpha,” declined an interview and has not been identified.
Both officers were assigned to the 494th Fighter Squadron. Bravo told reporter Norah O’Donnell that the pilot acted quickly after the aircraft was hit on April 3.
“I will be thankful to my dying day for my pilot and crewmate, Alpha, for saving our lives and ejecting us,” Bravo said.
American combat search and rescue forces moved to recover the crew after the shootdown. An A-10 Thunderbolt was hit and went down during a rescue flight, although its pilot ejected into safe territory.
Air Force helicopters recovered that pilot within hours while taking fire during a daytime operation. Cooper said more than 1,000 Iranian military personnel were within a radius of 10 miles.
Bravo faced a far longer and more punishing escape. His parachute was damaged during the explosion, leaving him “free-falling” before he landed five miles from Alpha at a speed between 70 and 100 miles per hour.
The landing broke Bravo’s back, shoulder and arm, and he suffered other wounds. Despite those injuries, he continued moving and established contact with U.S. forces that day.
According to officials, including War Secretary Pete Hegseth, conditions “didn’t line up” for an immediate rescue. Bravo reached high ground, concealed himself in the mountains and waited while Iranian forces searched for him.
U.S. drones fired on Iranian personnel in the area to keep them at bay. Meanwhile, American special operations forces prepared the dangerous ground operation needed to bring Bravo out.
Air Force pararescue teams and elements of SEAL Team 6 established a forward arming and refueling point, known as a FARP, in the Iranian desert. Cooper said approximately 92 American troops were inside Iran for the mission.
Officials described it as the first disclosed operation by American personnel on Iranian soil in more than four decades. The rescue package included two Air Force special operations MC-130s carrying MH-6 “Little Bird” helicopters from the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
Crews unloaded the helicopters at the makeshift airfield and prepared them for flight. Air Force and Army special operators had practiced that exact scenario on a Wyoming highway in 2023.
The rescue team located Bravo, and a special operations helicopter carrying Air Force pararescuemen flew to his position. Video shown by “60 Minutes” captured two PJs running toward Bravo, lifting him and carrying him to the helicopter.
“The moment a PJ showed up to me on that ridgeline was one of the greatest moments of my life,” Bravo said. “And I don’t know how to say it any more clearly than that. Thank you for all that they did.”
Two C-130s used to transport the rescue teams became stuck in the airfield’s deep soil and could not take off. Smaller aircraft were flown in to carry Bravo and the special operations forces away.
Before departing, American forces destroyed the aircraft they were forced to leave behind. Images released by Iran showed multiple burned wrecks in the desert, including two helicopters and a C-130.
The April shootdown remains the last time Iran downed a crewed American aircraft in the war. A Navy helicopter crashed in the Arabian Sea in July, killing the commanding officer of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5, but the Navy called that incident “non-hostile.”
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