2 US helicopters hit by Iran amid rescue efforts; crews safe

Iran shoots down US jet; 1 pilot rescued, US races against Iran to find the second

Israeli official says IAF postponed strikes in area to allow for search; Iran offers bounty for missing crew member; in separate incident, A-10 Warthog crashes near Strait of Hormuz; pilot rescued

One crew member was rescued Friday and searches were ongoing for the second after an American F-15E Strike Eagle fighter aircraft was shot down in Iran, according to a US and an Israeli official. The incident marked the first time Iran has shot down a US fighter plane since the start of the US-Israel war against Iran on February 28.

US military officials said both pilots ejected. The US military search-and-rescue operation was being assisted by Israel, according to three people familiar with the details.

Iran was also searching for the missing pilot, with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said to have closed off an area in southwestern Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, where they believed the crew member went down.

Two American helicopters were struck by Iranian fire during the search and rescue efforts, NBC News reported. Citing a US official, the report said the service members on those craft were all safe.

The Israeli Air Force postponed strikes in areas of Iran where the search efforts were taking place, an Israeli official said.

According to an email from the Pentagon obtained by The Associated Press, the US military said that it received notification of “an aircraft being shot down” in the Middle East. The email did not provide more details.

The White House said that US President Donald Trump had been briefed but did not offer any additional information.

A short time later the White House called a “lid” for the press, indicating Trump would not be making any appearances in front of the media for the day.

The call came hours earlier than normal and signaled the US president and White House were remaining tight-lipped as the search-and-rescue mission continued for the second serviceperson.

A short while earlier, Trump had said the downing of the plane would not affect negotiations over ending the conflict. “No, not at all. No, it’s war. We’re in war,” Trump told NBS.

The Pentagon and US Central Command didn’t immediately respond to several messages seeking comment.

Images posted online and not immediately verifiable appeared to show debris of a US F-15E fighter jet.

It was the first time the US has lost aircraft in Iranian territory, marking a further escalation in the war, which will enter its sixth week on Saturday.

“An American hostile fighter jet in central Iranian airspace was struck and destroyed by the IRGC Aerospace Force’s advanced air defense system,” said a spokesperson for the Iranian military’s central operational command, Khatam al-Anbiya.

“The jet was completely obliterated, and further searches are ongoing,” the spokesman said.

US rescue aircraft spotted as Iranian media offers bounty for pilot

Prior to word of the rescue, social media footage showed American drones, aircraft and helicopters flying over the mountainous region where a TV channel affiliated with Iranian state television had said that at least one pilot bailed out of the fighter jet.

Iranian media urged residents of the area to join the hunt for the crew, offering a bounty for the capture of any US servicemen, while local TV anchors initially urged viewers who see Americans to “shoot them as soon as you see them.”

“Dear and honorable people of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, if you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police and military forces, you will receive a valuable reward and bonus,” said an Iranian television reporter on the official local channel.

“Military forces have launched a search operation to find the American fighter pilot who was hit earlier today,” Iran’s Fars news agency said.

The channel showed metal debris in the back of a pickup truck while making the announcement, but provided no other immediate details.

2nd US plane crashes; pilot rescued

Throughout the war, Iran has made a series of claims about shooting down piloted enemy aircraft that turned out not to be true.

However, another American plane involved in the war in Iran crashed in the Persian Gulf on Friday, according to US officials cited by The New York Times.

According to the Times, the A-10 Warthog went down near the Strait of Hormuz at around the same time that the F-15E was shot down over Iran.

The report said the pilot from the A-10 was safely rescued.

The US officials did not provide further details on how the plane crashed.

Friday’s incidents were not the first time that US aircraft were damaged or destroyed during the war with Iran, as last month, a US F-35 had to make an emergency landing at a Middle East base after it was apparently hit by Iranian fire.

Three US F-15 fighter jets were also mistakenly shot down by Kuwait, in an incident of so-called friendly fire, in early March.

A week later, six US Air Force crew members died after a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq, in an apparent accident involving another tanker. The military said the loss of the aircraft was “not due to hostile or friendly fire.”

Additionally, a US Air Force E-3 Sentry early warning and control aircraft was destroyed last weekend during an Iranian attack on an airbase in Saudi Arabia.

The attack, involving at least one missile and several drones, wounded 12 US service members and damaged several refueling planes, according to reports.

The US confirmed losing the plane, which was reportedly only one of 16 operational E-3 Sentry planes before the attack on the airbase in Saudi Arabia, down from a fleet of around 30 decades ago.

Since the war with Iran began on February 28, more than 300 US service members have been wounded and 13 were killed in action.