The two crew members ejected safely after their aircraft was struck by Iranian fire, the sources said. The F-15E Strike Eagle, which carries a pilot and a weapons systems officer, went down over Iran in what US officials confirmed was the first American fighter jet lost to enemy fire since the war began more than a month ago.
Iran is offering a bounty
Iranian authorities wasted little time turning the situation into a public manhunt. A regional governor in southwestern Iran issued a public call for residents to assist in locating the crew, and a representative of local merchants and businesses was reportedly offering the equivalent of $60,000 to anyone who found them. Iranian state television urged civilians in the area to report any sightings to police, and some outlets went further, with on-screen messages encouraging locals to take direct action against US aircraft spotted in the region.
Iranian state media and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for bringing down the jet, attributing it to a new advanced air defense system operated by the IRGC Aerospace Force. The Pentagon and the White House did not immediately issue a formal response to those claims, though White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump had been briefed on the incident.
Israel paused strikes to help
Israel is actively assisting the US effort to locate the second crew member, providing intelligence support to guide the search, the Israeli official said. In a significant operational decision, Israel cancelled planned strikes inside Iran to avoid interfering with the ongoing rescue mission, a move that underscores how seriously both governments are treating the situation.
The cooperation between Washington and Jerusalem on the search reflects the broader nature of the campaign, which has been a joint American-Israeli effort from the start. That partnership has focused heavily on targeting and degrading Iran’s missile defense infrastructure, but Friday’s events made clear that Tehran has retained meaningful capability to threaten US aircraft operating in its airspace.
What the wreckage revealed
Aviation experts who examined images published by Iranian outlets identified the downed aircraft as an F-15, based on tail markings consistent with the 48th Fighter Wing, which is based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, England. The wing operates several squadrons of F-15 Strike Eagles and F-35A Lightning II jets and serves as the largest US fighter operation in Europe, functioning as a primary staging hub for American air missions into the Middle East.
This is not the first time F-15Es have been lost during the conflict. Three were shot down earlier in the war by Kuwaiti air defenses in a friendly fire incident. A separate F-35 made an emergency landing at a US base in the region on March 19 after sustaining damage, though the military stopped short of confirming Iranian involvement in that case. Thirteen Americans have been killed during the campaign in total.
A moment that changes the calculus
The loss of the jet and the ongoing search for its second crew member arrive at a delicate point in the conflict. Trump has been publicly declaring progress and pressing Iran to accept a negotiated end to the war, while simultaneously threatening further escalation if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The rescue of one airman offers a measure of relief, but the situation on the ground in Iran remains fluid and the outcome for the second crew member is far from certain.
