According to US media, two people were on the fighter plane; the second has not yet been found
An American fighter plane was overthrown in Iranand U.S. forces rescued one of the crewthe main American media outlets reported this Friday (3), after the Iranian press released images of the wreckage of the aircraft.
Citing unidentified sources, the website Axios and broadcaster CBS News reported that one of the plane’s two crew members had already been rescued by American special forces, but that the search for the second continued on course.
According to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, the plane was a F-15E fighterwhich has a crew made up of a pilot e a weapons systems officer in the back seat.
Broadcaster CNN highlighted that analysis of information from what Iranian media said were photos of the wreckage showed that it was a F-15 and not an F-35 stealth fighter, as some Iranian reports said.
“Military forces have launched a search operation to find the pilot of the American fighter jet that was hit earlier today (Friday), the Iranian news agency Fars reported.
Iranian authorities urged the population to look for the pilot or the pilots e offered a reward for his capture.
“If you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and take them to the police and armed forces, you will receive a generous reward,” the police said, according to a message read on television.
Consulted by AFP, the United States military command for the Middle East (Centcom) did not immediately respond about the incident.
In Iran, a local broadcaster aired images of what it said was the wreckage of an American fighter plane shot down in the center of the country.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt confirmed this Friday that American President Donald Trump “was informed” about the downed fighter jet.
Iran is in war with United States e Israel since these two countries launched a military offensive on February 28, which claimed the life of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The Revolutionary Guard, Tehran’s elite army, had reported in March that an American F-35 plane had been “hit and seriously damaged in the sky over central Iran”, but this is the first time since the war began that media outlets have reported a downed fighter.
According to a Western fighter pilot, interviewed by AFP, the first thing to do in case of ejection into hostile territory “is to hide and try to warn your companions”.
To do this, pilots wear a combat vest with a radio-GPS coded beacon that transmits their position. Furthermore, “procedures to reach a preferential zone” may have been adopted, according to him.
*With information from AFP
