The United States forces managed to rescue alive the co-pilot of the fighter shot down by Iran after an intense search and rescue mission with which Washington avoided more than losing one of its troops: being captured by the Persian country and giving an advantage to Tehran.
As Trump announced this Sunday, after one of the “most daring search and rescue operations in history” they managed to rescue the soldier, who is “seriously injured.”
“We have rescued the seriously injured, and truly brave, member of the F-15 from the depths of the mountains of Iran” after spending seven hours in enemy territory, the president detailed in a message on his social network, Truth Social, where he added that he is “a highly respected colonel.”
Last Friday, Iran shot down a US F-15 in its territory for the first time since the war in the Middle East began due to the US and Israeli offensive on February 28.
One of the fighter’s two crew members was rescued shortly after the incident, but the other remained missing, prompting Trump to order a combat search and rescue (CSAR) operation.
The US president explained that the rescue took place in broad daylight, “something also unusual”, but did not give further details on how the rescue occurred. Neither did the War Department.
As a senior government official explained to The Washington Postthe co-pilot remained hidden in a crevice of a mountain to avoid the Iranian forces that were approaching to capture him.
He suffered some injuries, but, according to the BBC, he was able to escape on his own and avoid being captured by Iran.
The race to see who could reach the missing soldier first intensified after Iranian television offered a reward to whoever found him while his forces rushed to search for him.
Local media reported that many people had traveled to the area but that the army had asked that “no one mistreat the pilot.”
“The Iranian military was searching for him intensely, with a large contingent, and was getting dangerously close,” Trump said.
If they found him stable and alive, Tehran could have captured much more than a soldier, it would have put its hands on the United States and improved its cards in the face of an eventual negotiation. It was like finding a needle in a haystack, the US insisted.
A US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft takes off for a mission in support of Operation Epic Fury, March 9, 2026.
Fight against the clock
The search efforts were marked by crossfire between the displaced American helicopters and the Iranian ones that were on the ground.
The Pentagon deployed C-130 planes, rescue helicopters and dozens of aircraft that flew with a low and slow profile, at a very low altitude to avoid radars and under the threat of being shot down.
Iran claimed yesterday that during this operation it shot down four American aircraft.
To mislead, the CIA spread the word inside Iran that US forces had found the soldier and were transferring him by land, according to an official on condition of anonymity told the Post.
It was the CIA that located the pilot and shared his location with the White House so that Trump could order the rescue mission.
Iranian media broadcast videos of the remains of a charred military plane, which could suggest that the US destroyed its own downed aircraft to prevent them from falling into the hands of Tehran.
This, like the capture of the soldier, could have given Iran a certain advantage in the development of the war as the end of the ultimatum that Trump gave the Persian country to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or else he would unleash hell in the country approaches.
