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Monday, September 14, 2026
US officer shot down over Iran in April tells of rescue: ‘One of the greatest moments of my life’
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One of two US aircrew whose F-15E was shot down over Iran in April gives his first public account of the ordeal and rescue in a report that features newly declassified footage.
CNN reported Saturday that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other political officials at the Pentagon had pushed the two to take part in the interview.
The crew member who agreed to appear (the pilot did not), is identified only as “Bravo,” the jet’s weapons systems officer who spent roughly two days alone in the Iranian mountains.
According to CBS’s “60 minutes” the officer fell to the ground at around 70-100 mph because his parachute was damaged when Iran shot down the plane.
“At one point when I looked up and saw no parachute, that was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen,” he tells the broadcaster.
“I had injuries, but we all train to adapt and overcome the things that we’re faced with,” he says. “I moved as quickly as I could, despite the injuries, away from the place that I landed.”
Adm. Brad Cooper, who heads US Central Command, tells CBS News that there were over 90 US service members on the ground in the rescue operation that saw US military boots on the ground in Iran for the first time in 46 years.
Bravo says seeing his rescuers was “one of the greatest moments of my life.”
Dramatic video, obtained first by 60 Minutes, shows the rescue of two Air Force officers shot down over a mountainous desert region of Iran back in April. https://t.co/MMeYIaZvfu pic.twitter.com/37AR1xc9bj
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 14, 2026
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