US Destroys Own Warplanes During Pilot Rescue Op, What We Know So Far About Rescue Of US Airman

5th April 2026 at 4:52 PM

1 minute read

New York : A US Air Force officer whose fighter jet was shot down in Iran was successfully rescued in an audacious night-time mission. While President Donald Trump bragged that there was no loss of life during the op, it wasn’t, however, without sacrifices. Iranian Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf shared a photo on X of the smouldering remains of the destroyed warplanes. “If the United States gets three more victories like this, it will be utterly ruined,” he wrote.

Reuters reported that the first crew member had already been retrieved, while both Iran and the US launched a frantic search for the remaining airman. Trump said the US military “sent dozens of aircraft, armed with the most lethal weapons” to retrieve the stranded crew member. He said the airman was rescued “in the treacherous mountains of Iran”, calling it unprecedented. “This is the first time in military memory that two US pilots have been rescued, separately, deep in enemy territory,” Trump said.

“He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine. This miraculous Search and Rescue Operation comes in addition to a successful rescue of another brave Pilot, yesterday, which we did not confirm, because we did not want to jeopardize our second rescue operation,” Trump said. Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said several US aircraft were destroyed during the rescue operation, according to Iranian media reports.

A spokesperson for Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the unified command of Iran’s armed forces, said the aircraft lost included a C-130 military transport plane and two Black Hawk helicopters. According to a CNN tally, at least seven manned US aircraft have been destroyed in the war so far. The F-15 with the two pilots and an A-10 were brought down in separate incidents last week.