The US Air Force colonel who spent roughly 48 hours in Iran after he and his crewmate were shot down in their F-15E Strike Eagle spoke out for the first time in an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, where he revealed the horrifying details of his “miracle” survival.
CBS also released declassified footage from the rescue operation to save the pilots. The pilots, identified by their call signs Dude 44 Alpha and Dude 44 Bravo, became the subject of an intense rescue mission and worldwide news story on April 3. Alpha, who returned to the Air Force, declined to speak to 60 Minutes, citing security concerns, but provided the following statement:
“I am still in awe of the professionalism and tactical prowess of the Combat Search and Rescue specialists and the Joint Force who executed the rescue missions of me and DUDE 44 Bravo, both those in theater and behind the scenes. Words cannot capture how thankful my family and I are and how proud I am to serve alongside each and every one of them.”
During the nighttime mission targeting drone and missile sites in Iran, early in the conflict, the pilots were hit by an Iranian shoulder-fired missile, which felt like “getting hit by a freight train,” Dude 44 Bravo said in the interview with CBS’s Norah O’Donnell. “Without a shadow of a doubt, it was evident that we’d been impacted by an Iranian weapon when it happened.” He added, “It was evident that that wasn’t possible, and soon thereafter we ejected and found ourselves floating over the heart of Iran.”
It was then that Bravo learned his ejection seat had been damaged in the strike, though he was able to eject. He thanked the airmen for the “incredible job” that led the seat to “outperform the design specifications,” which he says saved his life. However, Bravo then revealed that his parachute was also damaged, and when he looked up while free-falling, he “saw no parachute.”
“It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen,” he said of the moment. “So I paused right then, and I prayed, ‘Lord, Your will be done. But if I’m getting through this, I need help.'” Bravo says he hit the ground at “somewhere between 70 and 100 miles an hour,” breaking his back, arm, and shoulder. He described his survival as a “modern-day miracle” and a “testament to God’s provision in my life to bring me through that moment in a way that didn’t prevent injuries, but prevented any catastrophic injuries that would have affected my ability to survive.” He continued, “I’m grateful eternally for knowing that He was there with me.”
“Because you don’t see any other explanation for how you survived,” O’Donnell responded. Bravo fired back, “I don’t think there can be, and I think the facts around my survival, the facts proven out by my medical records, the facts proven out by the equipment that was still there, I think they all determine that that is true.”
Despite his injuries, Bravo walked O’Donnell through his training and how he sought to find higher ground “to give me the best chance of survival” while Iranian forces began a manhunt and placed a bounty on his head in the hours following the crash. “I had communication equipment with me, but I did not immediately take the opportunity to communicate. I thought the priority should be getting away from that spot before someone else started showing up to look for me,” he explained.
Despite breaking his back and other bones, Bravo climbed 7,000 feet up the mountains to evade capture. When asked how he did it, he said, “Never let a lack of motivation put you on Iranian TV.”
“I did it because of a warrior ethos that we talk about. My airmen that we led in theater had months of hearing about the importance of warrior ethos and how we are going to apply it, and I saw them apply that in the lead-up to the conflict, during the conflict, night after night, with unprecedented threats against them, and yet they’re doing their job at a way that no one would have thought possible,” Bravo continued. “I owed it to them to show the same warrior ethos in my situation and walk the same walk that I’ve been talking for months.”
After making it up the ridge with only “a very minimal amount of water” and a few other tools in his survival kit, he was finally able to attempt communication with friendly forces, which would take more than a day to locate him.
The F-15E was shot down over Iran on April 3. A search and rescue operation quickly began to find the two pilots, one of whom spent roughly two days in enemy territory, hiding from Iranian fighters.
After a nearly 48-hour search and rescue effort, the pilot of a downed F-15E Strike Eagle was rescued from inside Iran.
One crew member was initially rescued on Friday after the crash, US officials say.
“WE GOT HIM!” President Trump announced following the rescue, describing the mission as “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History.”
“This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour, but was never truly alone because his Commander in Chief, Secretary of War, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and fellow Warfighters were monitoring his location 24 hours a day, and diligently planning for his rescue,” Trump said.
It was later revealed that the US military and Central Intelligence Agency used “Ghost Murmer” technology to trace the electromagnetic fingerprint of the pilot’s heartbeat and locate him in the massive desert.
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