Trump: Downed pilot rescued from Iran

TT

Updated 07.40 | Published 02.57

           

           President Donald Trump confirms that the second crew member shot down over Iran has                             been rescued. Image from Wednesday. Photo: Doug Mills/AP/TT

The second American fighter pilot shot down over Iran has been rescued by American special forces, President Donald Trump confirms.

"We got him!", the president writes in his post on Truth Social.

"He was injured, but will make a full recovery," Trump writes.

The forces managed to rescue the pilot via the air, according to The Wall Street Journal. All forces involved are said to be out of Iranian airspace and have returned safely.

In the post, Trump calls the operation “one of the most daring search and rescue operations in US history.”

The crew member had been stuck in Iran for more than a day since the US fighter jet was shot down on Good Friday. The other person on board the plane was quickly rescued.

The mission was described as high-risk. US C-130 planes and rescue helicopters flew low and slow over Iran’s mountainous terrain to find the missing pilot – who served as a weapons systems officer on the Air Force’s F-15E plane, writes The Washington Post.

In connection with the operation, Iranian state television broadcast a statement offering a reward for finding the downed fighter pilot. In a further segment, residents were reportedly urged to “target” any Americans they encountered.

The Iranian military is said to have urged people not to let anyone mistreat the pilot.

On Sunday morning, Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, that they had destroyed one of the American rescue planes that took part in the operation. It is unclear whether the plane was shot down or otherwise rendered harmless.

However, the information has not yet been independently confirmed.