From the Liveblog of
Sunday, April 5, 2026
Planes carrying airman, commandos out of Iran got stuck during daring rescue — report
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleThe New York Times reports that two transport aircraft spiriting a rescued airman and commandos out of Iran got stuck inside the country and had to be blown up, with three new planes sent into Iran to take the airman and soldiers out.
The military then blew up the transport planes so they would not fall into Iran’s hands, the newspaper reports.
Images from inside Iran suggest that the planes got stuck at a temporary airstrip set up by the US military in a remote part of the country.
Reported images of the forward airbase in Iran used by US forces to successfully rescue the downed US F-15 WSO.
A pair of C-130s were destroyed before final departure after they became stuck. pic.twitter.com/AtSeUBM9pd
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) April 5, 2026
According to the New York Times, hundreds of special operations soldiers took part in the rescue mission. The paper reports that the rescued airman, a weapons officer, was flown to Kuwait for treatment after his rescue.
The Times of Israel Community.