Washington – US forces are in a race against time to save a missing fighter jet pilot whose aircraft was shot down by Iranian air defences in a chaotic day of fighting - after a second American aircraft was also downed.
Iranian state media shared footage on Friday appearing to show a US A-10 Warthog plane being blown out of the sky, and reports say a second US aircraft, an F-15E Strike Eagle, was also downed hours earlier.
The joint incidents led two pilots to eject into enemy territory, and the F-15E pilot remains unaccounted for after US forces successfully saved the A-10 pilot in a daring rescue mission.
US forces are now desperately searching behind enemy lines to retrieve the missing pilot, with an urgent rescue mission underway.
On Friday evening, updated Pentagon data also revealed the number of US service members wounded in the Iran war has risen to 365 soldiers.
The total included 247 Army soldiers, 63 Navy sailors, 19 Marines and 36 Air Force airmen. The death toll for the conflict remains at 13 US service members. Following reports that the two US aircrafts were shot down on Friday, White House officials said President Donald Trump was briefed on the relief efforts.
A senior administration official told the Daily Mail that the president’s national security team is gathered at the White House and the president has been working all day from the Oval Office, or the Oval’s dining room, receiving updates.
In a brief phone interview, Trump declined to discuss details of the search and rescue operation, and insisted that it would not affect ongoing negotiations with Iran.
When asked by NBC News reporter Garrett Haake whether the plane incidents could end negotiations between Iran and the US, the president responded: “No, not at all. No, it’s war. We’re in war, Garrett.”
It marked the first time a US jet has been downed by enemy fire since the start of the war 35 days ago.
Meanwhile, Newsmax reported that a US Black Hawk was hit by enemy fire while conducting rescue operations for the pilots. The crew is reportedly accounted for and is safe.
An A-10 Warthog combat plane crashed in the Persian Gulf near the Strait on Hormuz on Friday, but the pilot was rescued, according to the New York Times.
An F-15E jet (worth US$100 millions) on operations over Iran was shot out of the sky. One of the two-person crew was rescued within hours in a daring Special Forces mission involving low-flying US helicopter gunships.