Search underway for missing US F-15 pilot downed in Iran

A search-and-rescue operation is reportedly underway after a US F-15 fighter jet was shot down over Iran.

In separate incidents, both an F-15E fighter jet and an A-10 attack aircraft were hit by Iranian missiles. The New York Times reported the A-10 pilot reportedly managed to steer the damaged aircraft into Kuwaiti and was later picked up safely.

One of the two crew members aboard the F-15, which crashed inside Iran, was rescued. However, the second crew member remains missing, with US forces continuing intensive efforts to locate and extract him safely.

Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters that were dispatched as part of the search operation reportedly came under Iranian fire, sustaining minor damage and injuries to crew members, though they managed to return safely. 

In a separate incident, an A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft was also hit but was able to reach safer airspace before its pilot ejected and was later rescued.

Iranian state media has broadcast footage of search activities on the ground and reportedly offered financial rewards for the capture of the missing American pilot.

Iran’s state broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, said that “many people” had already reached the crash site, adding that the military “called on the people NOT TO LET anyone mistreat the pilot."

Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported that US special forces entered Iran on Friday night in a high-stakes mission to recover the crew member from the shot-down fighter jet.