Speaking at a press conference at the White House on April 6 (US time), President Donald Trump said that the rescue operation of the weapons system officer (who was sitting behind in the two-seater F-15E) who was injured and hiding in a crevice on a cliff in Iran for nearly 48 hours mobilized 155 aircraft and hundreds of personnel. He described finding the officer's location as "like finding a needle in a haystack".
General Dan Caine - Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff - said that the F-15E fighter jet was shot down in the early morning of April 3 (local time). The US aircraft was hit by a shoulder-fired heat-seeking missile.
Two people on board, including the pilot and weapons system officer, parachuted and crashed on Iranian territory, many kilometers apart.
The US military deployed 21 aircraft "in just a few hours" after the fighter jet crashed. The aircraft flew low over Iran for 7 hours during the day, before determining the location of the pilot in conditions of "bearing very strong fire from the enemy," Mr. Trump said.
According to General Caine, a "close firing" broke out when search and rescue forces including A-10 Warthog aircraft, specialized aircraft, helicopters and other forces entered Iranian airspace. Iranian ground forces fired at low-flying aircraft when a helicopter approached and lifted the pilot.
The helicopter was hit by many bullets" - Mr. Trump said.
An A-10 aircraft was also shot down in the operation. The pilot of this aircraft flew into the airspace of an allied US country, parachuted to escape and was later rescued safely, according to General Caine.
Meanwhile, the weapons system officer fell to a significantly distant location and was isolated on Iranian territory.
Mr. Trump said that this officer, an Air Force colonel, climbed a cliff and hid in a ravine. This person "bleeded quite a lot" and had to "handle the wound himself".
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that the colonel's first message when activating the emergency signal device was: "Thank God, everything's fine.
After the CIA identified the location of this officer, officials launched "a deception campaign," CIA Director John Ratcliffe informed.
According to the New York Times report, this operation includes spreading false information that the officer has been rescued, while in fact the officer is still trapped in Iran.
US President Donald Trump informed that a total of 155 aircraft participated in the operation, including 4 bombers, 64 fighters, 48 refueling aircraft and 13 rescue aircraft. At one point, the US military destroyed 2 old aircraft trapped in sand on Iranian territory to prevent Iran from recovering or accessing equipment inside.
Under the protection of an "air fleet" of tactical unmanned aerial vehicles and attack aircraft, weapons system officers were brought to the safe zone at midnight on April 5, more than 50 hours since the operation began, according to General Caine.
