New footage shows US airman’s daring rescue in Iran, released 5 months later

A newly released video has shed light on one of the most dramatic US military rescue missions of the Iran war, revealing how an American airman survived for nearly 50 hours in rugged Iranian terrain after his F-15E fighter jet was shot down.

The incident occurred in April when the US Air Force aircraft was brought down over Iran. The two-person crew was forced to eject from the damaged fighter, sending both airmen into hostile territory. One was rescued within hours, but the second crew member, a weapons systems officer, remained stranded and injured for roughly two days.

The rescue operation was featured by CBS’s 60 Minutes, which aired the officer’s first public account of his ordeal. According to CBS, the airman described a terrifying ejection that left him seriously injured before he landed alone in the mountains. He then had to evade Iranian forces while waiting for American rescuers to locate him.

The officer, identified by the call sign “Dude Four Four Bravo,” said he hit the ground at an extremely high speed after his parachute failed to deploy properly. Despite his injuries, he remained hidden and moved through difficult mountainous terrain while Iranian forces searched the area.

His fellow crew member, known as “Alpha,” was rescued only hours after the aircraft went down. The second rescue, however, became far more complicated because Bravo was deep inside hostile territory and remained vulnerable to capture.

US military officials ultimately launched a large-scale search-and-rescue mission involving American special forces and air assets. The operation continued until April 5, Easter Sunday, when the stranded airman was finally located and extracted.

60 Minutes described the mission as one of the riskiest and most complex rescue operations of its kind in US military history. The official CBS account said the wider operation involved a 50-hour search for the injured officer while enemy forces were closing in.

The newly revealed account offers a rare glimpse into what happens after a military aircraft is lost deep inside hostile territory. For Bravo, survival depended not only on his military training but also on remaining hidden, managing serious injuries and maintaining hope that a rescue team would reach him.

His eventual recovery also highlighted the US military’s longstanding commitment to recovering personnel left behind in combat zones.

The dramatic story has now emerged months after the incident, giving the public a closer look at the extraordinary risks faced by American aircrews and the complex operations undertaken to bring them home.