"My survival is a miracle": How US pilot spent 48 hours in Iran after F-15 was shot down
Author, Max Matza
Designation, BBC News
Published 1 minute ago
Reading Time: 5 minutes
'At one point I looked up, but there was no parachute. That was the scariest moment of my life.
This is what the American Air Force pilot whose plane was shot down over Iran said. The parachute had malfunctioned and he was falling rapidly.
After this, a very dangerous operation was launched to save them.
The American pilot who gave this interview to the CBS News program '60 Minutes'. His real name was not mentioned in it.
This program aired on Sunday. For the first time, a pilot involved in the US attack on Iran in April told what circumstances he had to go through.
'This is a miracle'
The pilot was identified as 'Bravo' in the CBS program. The things that were told in the interview were hair-raising.
After the plane was damaged, both American airmen aboard jumped. After this both of them separated from each other. He had to hide from Iranian soldiers until American Special Forces arrived to rescue him.
On how to define a fall without a parachute, Bravo said, "It would be correct to call it a fall without any support."
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He said, "I was not focused on how fast I was falling. Instead, I was focused on overcoming the difficulties in front of me. I was doing whatever I could to open the parachute or pull its parts to loosen them."
Bravo described his survival as a "miracle". However, his back, shoulder and arm were broken. When it hit the ground, its speed was between 70 to 100 miles per hour i.e. 113 to 161 kilometers per hour.
The second American airman aboard the downed plane was identified as 'Alpha'. He refused to give an interview to CBS.
Reached the top of the hill despite injuries
According to CBS, the two-seat F-15E aircraft was shot down by a shoulder-fired missile. The cost of the aircraft was 30 million dollars i.e. 22 million pounds, while the cost of the missile was about 100,000 dollars. CBS is the partner network of BBC in America.
Bravo said that despite his injuries, he walked and climbed to the top of a high hill. All the way he was afraid that Iranian soldiers might capture him.
Explaining himself in that situation, he said to himself, "Don't lose courage, otherwise Iranian soldiers will catch you and you will be seen on Iranian TV."
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Alpha was rescued within six hours. There was fierce firing during this operation.
Hegseth said, "There was constant firing both on the way in and on the way out. But they managed to get Alpha out."
Bravo was rescued after spending 48 hours in enemy territory.
America claims, they had to destroy many helicopters themselves
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Admiral Brad Cooper of the US Central Command said that at one time during the operation, more than 90 American soldiers were present inside Iran. He said that this was the first time in 46 years that American troops were conducting operations inside Iran.
But the planes and helicopters that arrived to evacuate the soldiers got stuck in the desert sand. They had to be destroyed. After this the Special Forces soldiers had to wait for the arrival of another team for rescue.
According to the CBS report, each of the two destroyed American planes was worth about 100 million dollars. Apart from this, many 'Little Bird' helicopters also had to be destroyed, so that their technology did not fall into the hands of Iran.
This campaign was launched about five weeks after the start of the war against Iran. This war was started by America and Israel.
The war has now reached its seventh month. Mid-term elections for the US Congress are to be held in November and the time for their campaign is approaching. Meanwhile, the war is becoming increasingly unpopular among the American people.
A major reason for this anger of the people is the sharp increase in energy prices across the world and its impact on other things.
Last week, US President Donald Trump had said that the war would continue at least till election day on November 3.
We used AI to translate this article, which was originally written in English. A BBC journalist checked this translation before publication. Learn more about how we're using AI.
