Word went out on X that the second crew member had been rescued, but there was no official confirmation until now. Both Axios and Fox News have confirmed. From Axios:
Behind the scenes: According to two sources, the F-15 pilot and weapons systems officer both made contact via their comms systems after ejecting.
The pilot was rescued several hours after the plane was shot down. It took more than a day to locate and rescue the second crew member.
U.S. special forces were deployed on the ground in Iran on Friday and again on Saturday as part of the search and rescue mission.
And from Jennifer Griffin of Fox:
The tweet:
Fox News can confirm that the 2nd crew member of the downed F15E fighter jet has been rescued and he and the members of the rescue team that extracted him from behind enemy lines in Iran are all safely out of Iran. That according to two senior US officials and multiple well placed sources in the region. The Weapons Systems Officer ejected along with the pilot when their F15E Strike Eagle they were flying was struck Thursday night (early Friday local time) in southwest Iran.
The WSO used the SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) training to evade capture, hiding on an elevated ridge after hiking away from the wreckage and putting out an emergency beacon.) US Special Operations rescue forces to include PJs (United States Air Force Pararescuemen (PJs) and many layers of elite rescue forces took part in the complex, layered mission to both find the crew member and also keep the Iranian forces who were hunting the American weapons system operator at bay. There are videos that have appeared from local eyewitnesses that show what appear to have been injured and dead Iranian members of the IRGC and Basij who were looking for the downed American crew member. Fox has learned there was fighting on the ground but no Americans killed during the operation. “It was a very complex operation to retrieve the downed service member,” a well placed source briefed on the operation told me. Many different branches of the US military were involved in the rescue.
Fox News can confirm the A10 Warthog that crashed Friday was involved in providing cover for the rescue teams searching for the pilot. That A10 crashed in Kuwait (first reported by ABC Friday) but the A10 pilot managed to eject safely and was rescued. There was destruction of aircraft which have sensitive equipment on board, I am told, all part of this complex CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue) mission.
The F15E was pretty much destroyed on impact. Two rescue helicopters were hit by enemy fire on Friday and crew members onboard were injured by enemy fire but managed to make it out of Iran.
There were a lot of elements to this rescue, I am told.
What an absolutely incredible story. Good news for Easter. Hallelujah.
Yahoo!!! 🎉🎉🎉. Thank you Lord🙏✝️
An Easter miracle. Thank God.