U.S. F-15E Shot Down Over Iran, One Crew Member Rescued, Second Missing

An F-15E Strike Eagle from the 494th Fighter Squadron was shot down over Iran's Khuzestan Province on Friday, marking the first confirmed combat loss of a manned American aircraft to enemy fire since Operation Epic Fury began on February 28. One of the jet's two crew members, a pilot and a weapons systems officer, was recovered by U.S. special forces; a search for the second remains active.

Images verified by CBS News showed a refueling aircraft and two helicopters flying low over Khuzestan Province, consistent with an active combat search and rescue operation. Unconfirmed reports also suggest a U.S. helicopter may have been shot down during the recovery attempt, though the Pentagon has not confirmed those claims.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed credit for the shootdown. Iranian state media initially identified the downed aircraft as an F-35 stealth fighter, but analysis of wreckage photos revealed tail markings, including a distinctive red tail flash, consistent with the 494th Fighter Squadron's F-15E. That unit is based at RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom and was deployed to Jordan as part of the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron under U.S. Central Command. Iran also released images of what it described as an Advanced Concept Ejection Seat, specifically an ACES II model, recovered near the crash site, physical evidence consistent with crew ejection. U.S. Central Command has previously denied Iranian shoot-down claims at least six times since the war began.

The stakes of the ongoing search are severe. If the second crew member is captured, he would become the first American prisoner of war of the conflict, a development analysts say would fundamentally alter the diplomatic and political calculus of Operation Epic Fury. Iran has offered a bounty to any civilian who locates or captures American personnel, and Iranian state television initially broadcast a call urging viewers to "shoot them as soon as you see them" upon spotting U.S. crew. Israel is now assisting the United States with intelligence in the effort to locate the missing airman.

The shootdown delivered a direct contradiction to recent Pentagon messaging. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had stated that Iran's air defenses had been so severely degraded that the U.S. was sending B-52 bombers over the country, a heavy, slow platform far more vulnerable than the F-15E Strike Eagle, which is smaller, faster, and considerably more maneuverable. The loss of an F-15E to Iranian air defenses suggests those assessments were premature.

The F-15E loss is the first confirmed manned shoot-down, but it follows a broader pattern of attrition. At least 16 MQ-9 Reaper drones have been lost over Iran since the war began, and three F-15 jets were downed in a friendly fire incident over Kuwait earlier in the conflict. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that "the President has been briefed" on the situation.

Operation Epic Fury, launched jointly by the United States and Israel on February 28, targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, military infrastructure, and key leadership in the largest American military operation in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Now entering its second month, the war's next chapter may hinge on whether U.S. forces reach that second crew member before Iran does.