Washington — ANI — Updated: 10:06 AM Apr 05, 2026 IST
A crew member of a US F-15 reported missing after Iran shot down the jet has reportedly been found alive, former US Special Forces member and journalist Jack Murphy said.
In an X post, Murphy wrote that the F-15 WSO was recovered alive, saying the airman had been escaping and evading and that there had been a “massive firefight on tgt” while Iranians were searching the area. There has been no official confirmation of his claim.
Al Jazeera, citing a US government official, also reported the crew member was recovered following a “heavy firefight.” Both the US and Iran conducted search operations for the missing airman.
CNN reported Iranian tribesmen opened fire on American helicopters during the searches. Iran’s Fars News Agency said the incident occurred in the isolated highlands of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces and the Bakhtiari region, where local groups targeted two Black Hawk helicopters on Saturday.
Following the clashes, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps praised the tribal groups as “courageous, valiant and victorious guardians of the borders,” CNN cited. Footage released on Friday allegedly showed nomadic Bakhtiari tribesmen armed with rifles patrolling mountainous areas of Khuzestan province while searching for American personnel; one man in the video is heard saying, “God willing, he will be found.”
Iranian authorities had also reportedly offered substantial financial bounties for capture of the missing individual.
