The Associated Press reported that the U.S. operation unfolded in stages after a fighter jet was shot down in Iran, with American officials conducting a search for two aviators—one extracted early and the second located afterward in mountainous terrain. The report said the rescue effort involved deception, secrecy, and an airlift in contested skies, while both Tehran and Washington moved to influence how each side searched for the crew members.
According to the report, the CIA began working to throw off Iran’s government after the aircraft was downed, including a deception campaign aimed at spreading word within Iran that the U.S. had already located the second service member. The same AP report said a senior Trump administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public, described how that confusion gave the CIA time to discover the airman’s location.
The AP report said the second crew member was found in a mountain crevice, after climbing about 7,000 feet (2,133 meters) despite injuries. Sen. Dave McCormick, a Pennsylvania Republican, told “Fox News Sunday” that he had been briefed by a senior administration official involved in the operation.
As the rescue played out, Trump used social media to describe parts of the mission while other U.S. officials stayed quiet. The AP report said Trump wrote on Truth Social that it was “the first time in military memory that two U.S. Pilots have been rescued, separately, deep in Enemy Territory,” and added the message “WE WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AMERICAN WARFIGHTER BEHIND!” The report also said Trump described the effort as requiring complete silence to avoid jeopardizing the operation, even as he and top U.S. officials continuously monitored the airman’s location, according to Trump’s social media posts.
The AP report said the White House and Pentagon did not publicly discuss details about the downed fighter jet for more than 24 hours after the initial crash, including details about the first crew member rescued from the F-15E Strike Eagle, an effort Trump later said took seven hours in broad daylight over Iran. The report said the U.S. and Iran then raced to find the second crew member, whose location neither side had known at first.
At the same time, Iranian messaging pressed the public to help locate the aviator. The AP report said an anchor on a channel affiliated with Iranian state television urged residents in the mountainous region of southwest Iran where the fighter jet went down to hand over the “enemy pilot” to police and promised a reward for anyone who did. Trump, according to the AP report, said the American aviator was being “hunted down” by enemies who were “getting closer and closer by the hour,” and said the U.S. was monitoring his location continuously.
The AP report said Iranian state media reported strikes in the same southwest region on Saturday that killed at least three people and wounded others, where the missing American crew member was believed to be. It also said Iran’s joint military command claimed it struck two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters taking part in the operation, and described video and imagery on Sunday that Iran said showed parts of U.S. aircraft shot down and thick black smoke. The AP report cited the dispute in outcomes without resolving whether all craft were downed and said a person familiar with the situation described helicopter navigation to safe airspace as unclear as to landing and potential injuries.
Operationally, the AP report said the U.S. mission encountered obstacles with aircraft, including a technical malfunction that forced the military to bring in additional aircraft to complete the rescue of the second service member. It also said the U.S. blew up two transport planes it was forced to leave behind because of the mishap, citing a regional intelligence official briefed on the mission who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Trump’s public statements emphasized the mission’s success while the AP report described the costs and disputes in the air battle. The report said Trump posted that pulling off both operations without a “SINGLE American killed, or even wounded” showed “overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies,” while Iranian state media reported destroyed transport aircraft and helicopters, which the joint military command said included two C-130 military transport aircraft and two Black Hawk helicopters in the province of Isfahan where the rescue took place.
The report also described additional aircraft downings and rescues tied to the wider exchange. It said Trump did not mention that a second military jet also went down the same day as the F-15E, and Iranian state media said Friday that a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed after being struck by Iran’s defense forces. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation, confirmed a second Air Force combat aircraft went down in the Middle East on Friday, according to the AP report, and another person familiar with the situation said an additional U.S. pilot was rescued, though details were not available.
The AP report credited multiple contributors across Washington, Cairo, and Jerusalem, and described the operation as one involving competing narratives—U.S. officials stressing rescue and secrecy, and Iranian officials and state-aligned media pushing claims about what was shot down and urging the public to assist in capturing the remaining crew member.