BREAKING: Crew Member Rescued After F-15E ‘Downed’ In Iran

One crew member from a U.S. Air Force F-15E fighter jet shot down over Iran has been rescued, according to two U.S. officials who spoke to CBS News on Friday.

The aircraft carries a two-person crew, and efforts are still underway to locate the second service member, officials said.

The update comes hours after Iran claimed it downed a U.S. fighter jet.

State-linked Iranian channels released footage they say shows the debris from a U.S. Air Force jet brought down over Iranian territory. Early reports out of Tehran initially identified the aircraft as an F-35, but a closer look at the wreckage suggests otherwise.

Pieces of the airframe visible in the video, including parts of the fuselage and external mounting points, line up with the design of an F-15E, not the stealth profile of an F-35.

Reports from The New York Times and Axios later backed up the claim that a U.S. aircraft had been downed, though key details remain murky.

Iranian state media

Friday’s development marks the first known loss of a crewed U.S. Air Force aircraft over Iran since the war began.

The footage shows scattered debris consistent with a Strike Eagle, a twin-engine jet built for long-range strike missions and air-to-air combat. The F-15E is one of the Air Force’s go-to platforms for hitting heavily defended targets while still being able to engage enemy aircraft.

Iran has not said how the jet was brought down.

The jet is believed to be assigned to the 494th Fighter Squadron, known as the “Panthers,” one of the Air Force’s front-line strike units. The squadron routinely flies the F-15E Strike Eagle, a workhorse platform designed for deep strikes against hardened targets.

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