Second airman in F-15E that was shot down over Iran rescued safely, U.S. officials say

BREAKING NEWSApr. 5, 2026, 4:20 AM UTCIranIranSecond airman in F-15E that was shot down over Iran rescued safely, U.S. officials sayThe search was on for the backseater since Friday's incident, when the pilot was rescued shortly after the strike.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft takes off for a mission during Operation Epic Fury on March 14.Handout / AFP - Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleBy Freddie ClaytonU.S. forces safely rescued the second F-15E crew member of a two-seat fighter jet that went down over Iran on Friday, two U.S. officials said late Saturday. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Details of the rescue were unavailable, but the sources said the second airman was pulled from Iran safely, with rescue crews also out of harm's way. “He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine,” President Donald Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social.The plane's pilot was located shortly after the crash. Rescue crews and other special operation forces had been searching for the second airman, known as the backseater or weapons systems officer, since Friday. Iran shot down the F-15E Strike Eagle, a U.S. official said, and the American military was scrambling to find the second aviator after a regional governor offered a bounty for its crew. Iran’s media published photos alongside claims from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that it had shot down the F-15E. Nour News, an outlet linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, said the jet “was destroyed in the skies over central Iran by a new advanced air defense system of the IRGC Aerospace Force.”This is the first time it appears that a U.S. aircraft has gone down inside Iran as part of this latest conflict, dispelling the notion that the U.S. has complete control over the Iranian airspace. In recent days, the U.S. has ramped up the number of bombing runs over the country.A r...