[Iran Crisis] Trump Reveals More Rescue Details, The Thrilling Incident Could Be a Hollywood Movie, Leaker Reveals Iran Learned of a Second Pilot

U.S. President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Gen. Raisin Kane held a press conference at the White House in the early hours of Tuesday, Hong Kong time, to brief reporters on the feats of locating and rescuing two pilots in Iran. Trump said, “This is the most difficult attempt the U.S. military has ever made—this is a historic rescue that will be recorded in history.”

Table of contents

				*   					Not everyone in the military agrees with the rescue
					
				*   					Investigate the leaker
					
				*   					Shoulder-fired heat-tracking missile hits an F-15
					
				*   					First mission: 7-hour search-and-rescue operation, firefight by day
					
				*   					After an A-10 Sandy fighter is hit, it continues the mission until ejection
					
				*   					Second mission: about 50 hours
					
				*   					After climbing while wounded, only then do they activate communications
					
				*   					Spreading fake information across 7 locations
					
				*   					“Something is moving 40 miles away”
					
				*   					An aircraft stuck in a farm without a runway, activating the backup plan
					
				*   					“Iran’s golden time”—reloading three helicopters in 10 minutes
					
				*   					“Bring them home safely at all costs”
					
				*   					Details of the harrowing rescue of the F-15E pilot exposed; rescue plea message “God is good” was even questioned, the CIA’s deception campaign, and the enemy nation building a temporary base
					
				*   					1. The moment of the crash: automated alerts and survival
					
				*   					2. Contact and identity verification
					
				*   					3. Forming a “Rescue Task Force” (CSARTF)
					
				*   					4. Key combat personnel: the airborne search-and-rescue team (Pararescuemen, PJs)
					
				*   					Establishing a temporary base inside Iran
					
								*   					200 special operations force soldiers participate in the operation
					
				*   					CIA “deception campaign”
					
				*   					Within 12 hours, team members had landed in Iran
					
				*   					MQ-9 drone provides defense
					
				*   					Iran turns the red carpet; thousands of people chase
					
				*   					The aircraft broke down during evacuation; an emergency dispatch of a new aircraft for rescue
					
		

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Not everyone in the military agrees with the rescue

But Trump said that not everyone in the military agreed with the rescue operation. “Some very professional military personnel advise against doing it like this, because it could result in hundreds of people being killed. So there are people inside the military who say this is not a wise move.”

In addition, Trump said that during the rescue operation, for an hour they weren’t talking about the first rescue, and then someone leaked some information. “The leaker leaked that we saved one person, but there was another person outside whom we were trying to rescue,” adding that they hoped to find that leaker.

Investigate the leaker

“Someone leaked news that someone was missing. They didn’t know anyone was missing until this leaker provided the information. So no matter who did it, we believe we can find them, because we’re going to go after the media company that released this message. We’ll tell them, ‘For the sake of national security, hand the person over, otherwise you’ll go to prison.’ We know who we’re talking about. Because there are some things you cannot do. When they did this, suddenly all of Iran knew that there was a pilot on their land fighting for survival. This made the pilot’s situation even more difficult, and it also made it even more difficult for the people who went in to search and rescue.”

So Iran issued a major announcement, offering a huge reward to anyone who captured this pilot. As a result, besides facing an entire military, there were also millions of people trying to get the prize.

Trump said that getting to the truth is a national security matter. And the people who reported this story—if they don’t reveal their source, they will go to prison.

Shoulder-fired heat-tracking missile hits an F-15

Trump said that late Thursday night, a U.S. F-15 fighter jet crashed deep inside Iran while participating in “Operation Epic Fury.” The missile that hit the plane was a shoulder-fired heat-tracking missile. Both crew members ejected and survived on the ground in Iran.

Trump said that he immediately ordered the U.S. armed forces to take all necessary measures to bring the brave warriors home. “This is a risky decision. Because we could lose 100 people instead of 1 or 2 people. This is a tough decision. But in the U.S. military, we do not leave any American behind. We will never do that.”

First mission: 7-hour search-and-rescue operation, firefight by day

Hegseth said the first mission was a bold, thunderous daytime strike that went straight to the heart of the matter. After they knew the pilots’ whereabouts, authorization was obtained at midnight within less than two hours.

As for the second mission, Hegseth said that once we knew the location of the pilots, it was immediately carried out. During the execution of the final mission, inside a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), there was a running video teleconference (VTC). At the top of the screen it said 45 hours and 56 minutes. During all that time, the call stayed open for coordination.

Trump said that within just a few hours of the first mission, U.S. armed forces deployed 21 military aircraft into hostile airspace. Many aircraft were flying at extremely low altitudes and were fired upon. “When you fly that low, rifles can pose a threat to you, but low-flying also has certain advantages.” During the 7 hours of daylight, at times they faced extremely intense enemy fire. One helicopter was hit by a large number of bullets.

Trump said that the first wave of search-and-rescue teams successfully located the F-15 pilot. An HH-60 “Jolly Green II” helicopter pulled him out from the area held by the enemy. At extremely close range, it faced heavy gunfire. “What was surprising was that when you look at the machine’s damage, there wasn’t anyone who was injured.”

The general Kane added that at 10:10 p.m. Eastern Time in the United States—4:40 a.m. local time in Iran—the Joint Personnel Recovery Center, responsible for the Central Command area of responsibility, announced that a U.S. Air Force F-15E “Strike Eagle” (call sign: Dude 44) crashed over hostile territory in Iran and triggered an “Isolated Personnel Recovery Event.”

Kane said that shortly afterward, a U.S. Air Force combat search-and-rescue task force was deployed. The task force included A-10 “Warthogs” aircraft playing the “Sandy” role, HC-130 “Combat King II” search-and-rescue aircraft, HH-60 “Jolly Green II” helicopters, and a U.S. Air Force special tactics unit composed of combat rescue officers and pararescuemen. Under cover of daylight, they pushed deep into enemy territory. Their objective was to find, stabilize, and rescue Dude 44 Alpha behind enemy lines.

As this rescue task force crossed the coastline and entered Iranian airspace, under the cover of the fighter attack formations, they moved into the target area amid enemy fire. Along the way, the helicopter received midair refueling from a C-130 and continued pushing forward into the target area.

At the same time, flying ahead of them were A-10 Sandy, other unmanned aircraft, and tactical aircraft. In close-range firefights, these aircraft heavily suppressed and engaged the enemy, keeping them away from the forward cockpit pilots and enabling the rescue forces to enter the target area.

After an A-10 Sandy fighter is hit, it continues the mission until ejection

In that firefight, one of the Sandy aircraft (the aircraft mainly responsible for communicating with the downed pilot) was hit by enemy fire. The pilot continued fighting, continued carrying out the mission, and then during the withdrawal flew the aircraft to another country, judging that the aircraft could not land safely. It was an A-10 Sandy aircraft. The pilot then decided to eject over friendly territory, and was quickly and safely rescued. His current condition is good.

After rescuing Dude 44 Alpha, the HH-60 “Jolly Green” helicopter force was attacked by all Iranian gunmen carrying light weapons. One aircraft—the trailing aircraft—was hit multiple times. The crew sustained minor injuries, but they will all be fine.

Sandy was named after the flight call sign of this type of mission first carried out during the Vietnam War, when it was executed by A-1 attack aircraft and A-7 Corsair II attack aircraft. Sandy had only one mission: to find the survivors, guide the rescue forces forward, and place itself between the survivors on the ground and the enemy. They were committed to this mission. That is why they exist, and it is also the goal they trained for over many years. The A-10 unit and the rescue forces performed exceptionally well during the process of rescuing Dude 44 Alpha, who was rescued Friday afternoon.

Second mission: about 50 hours

Trump said that the second crew member was a colonel and weapons systems officer (WSO). When flying at that speed and landing far away, “even if you eject two or three seconds late, the distance is still several miles—so far apart, because you’re going that fast.” He was badly injured and was heavily surrounded by militia and Iranian authorities. Iranian authorities told the communities and people inside the country that once they found the pilot, they would receive a huge reward.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said that during the search for the pilots, a deception campaign was carried out to mislead the Iranians who were desperately searching for our pilots. He said that on Saturday morning, they found and confirmed the pilots were still alive and concealed themselves in a crevice in a mountainous area. The enemy still couldn’t detect them, but the CIA had already found them. This confirmation information was relayed by Hegseth to Trump, and the search-and-rescue operation quickly moved into execution.

Trump said that this battle-hardened officer, while wounded, crawled into the treacherous mountainous area. As he climbed steep cliffs, he bled a lot, and he treated his own wounds. “To evade being hunted, you need to stay as far away from the crash site as possible. The farther you go, the better, because they’ll all gather at that location.”

He contacted U.S. forces and sent his location. He carried a very precise, pager-like device. “When they carry out these missions, they make sure the equipment has enough battery and is in good working condition. And this time it worked tremendously—it miraculously saved his life.”

He kept climbing higher. The terrain became more and more dangerous, and it was really very hard to find him. The U.S. military immediately launched a large-scale operation. After evading the hunt for nearly 48 hours, they rescued him from the mountainous stronghold. “When you’re in danger and constantly bleeding, it’s a very long time.”

After climbing while wounded, only then do they activate communications

Hegseth said that after the pilots evaded the hunt for more than a day and climbed rugged mountain ridges, once he was finally able to activate his emergency transponder, his first message was simple yet full of power—God is good.

Hegseth said, “In that kind of isolation and danger, his faith and fighting spirit shine brightly. When he was shot down on Friday (Good Friday), he hid in a cave and crevices throughout the whole Saturday, and then he was rescued on Sunday. As the sun rose on Easter Sunday, he flew out of Iran. A reborn pilot. Everyone was safe and came home, and he was found. A nation rejoiced: God is good.”

Trump said the second rescue mission deployed 155 aircraft, including 4 bombers, 64 fighters, 48 aerial refueling aircraft, 13 rescue aircraft, and more. They were gathered from all directions, and a large part of them was intended for deception to draw the enemy away.

Spreading fake information across 7 locations

“We wanted them to think he was somewhere else. Because they had deployed a massive military there—thousands of people searching—so we wanted them to search different regions. We were spreading fake intelligence everywhere above their heads. We set up seven different locations so they would think he was there. They were very confused. They said, ‘Wait, there’s a group of people here, and there’s also a group of people over there.’ It’s very amazing.”

They set up all these different locations so everyone would think he was there. In a small area, nine aircraft were orbiting. That was about 25 miles offshore. “This was an incredible display of skill, precision, lethality, and force. U.S. forces arrived in the area—real, actual area—engaged the enemy in combat, rescued the trapped officer, destroyed all threats, and then withdrew from Iranian territory, with no personnel casualties.”

“Something is moving 40 miles away”

Trump said that Ratcliffe told them at the time, “The people we called are right there. He’s 40 miles from us, and we saw something moving on the mountain.” It was nighttime, and then they panned the camera toward him for 45 minutes. He didn’t move once. They said, “This might not be right,” but then we saw what was moving. It was a huge mountain. The mountain had bushes and trees. We saw something moving 40 miles away.” Ratcliffe added again that it was someone’s head. He was moving, and then suddenly, 45 minutes later, he moved a lot. He stood up. They said, “We found him.” This is really an incredible thing. We had some idea of where he might be, but not very specifically—it was a big mountain. So I have to thank the CIA. I don’t think they got enough credit.

An aircraft stuck in a farm without a runway, activating the backup plan

The U.S. military sent out two large, very old aircraft carrying a lot of supplies. Because when going in they needed more equipment than when coming out, they had to be able to climb mountains, but the sand there was wet and soft. When taking off, there could be problems due to the aircraft’s weight. In addition, once everyone jumped back onto the aircraft, it sank quite deeply.

So they activated a backup plan: send lighter, faster aircraft to land on the sand, take them away, and blow up the old aircraft. “We blew them to pieces. Because although there was some equipment on board that we wanted to take, I don’t think it was worth spending another 4 hours unloading it, and I also didn’t want anyone to inspect our air-defense equipment and other equipment.” Therefore, they destroyed those very old large aircraft.

“Iran’s golden time”—reloading three helicopters in 10 minutes

Within 10 minutes, the U.S. military unloaded the helicopters from the aircraft, removed the propellers, and reloaded these three helicopters. These helicopters were very small, but they had tremendous power. Because they were small, they could enter certain specific areas.

“A three-aircraft contingency plan was standing by, because it was originally believed that the sand was too soft and the aircraft might not be able to take off, but the aircraft did end up getting stuck. It wasn’t a runway—it was a farm. Even though it was a farm, it worked.”

“If you’re filming a movie about scouting filming locations, that is absolutely ‘Central Casting.’ And we were sitting in the most dangerous area of Iran. So these aircraft flew in; these pilots flew extremely fast. Everyone got on the aircraft with only 15 minutes between takeoffs. One helicopter was loaded and took off. Another was loaded and took off. The third was loaded and took off. We kept watching. We said, this is unbelievable. In many ways, I’m more impressed by the backup plans we had, not by what would have happened if we had runways or solid ground. It’s an amazing thing.”

“We stayed up late that night, and then we waited for those backup aircraft to fly in. We said, ‘Hurry up—get in there.’ Because they were waiting on a farm with no runway. Everywhere there was wet, squishy mud and sand, and it would swallow the aircraft alive. We were waiting. We said, ‘We hope that aircraft can land and take off.’ They flew in like magic—boom, boom, boom—one after another. I was very impressed.”

“Bring them home safely at all costs”

“We were worried: ‘Good Lord, if they can’t get in and can’t take off quickly, we’re at a disadvantage.’ That’s what’s known as ‘Iran’s golden time’ (Iran Prime).”

“It was similar to Maduro—when we entered a huge military base, there were thousands upon thousands of soldiers, and in just a few minutes, he was trapped behind those iron gates. They quickly destroyed those iron gates, and in less than a few minutes, he was led onto the back seats of these aircraft. It’s a similar setup.”

“If it’s necessary, we will bring them home safely at all costs. We will definitely bring our people home safely.”

Kane added that during the daytime hours, the rear-seat weapons systems officer (Dude 44 Bravo) used every method possible to evade the hunt. The U.S. military, the CIA, and other agencies worked hard to precisely locate Dude 44 Bravo. During that time, the enemy continued searching for 44 Bravo. The joint forces continued hitting them again and again.

While facing Iran’s harsh weather and enemy manhunts, on Saturday the second time, based on the advice of the commander of Central Command and with approval from the Secretary of Defense and the President, a rescue task force was launched to save Dude 44 Bravo.

This mission also required approval from the President and the Secretary of Defense, but this time far larger forces were deployed, determined by how much time the enemy had prepared to look for 44 Bravo.

This force was also protected by A-10 Warthog aircraft (using the Sandy call sign), and this force had only one mission: to do everything possible to bring Americans home.

After Saturday night through Sunday morning, the force fought all the way and successfully rescued Dude 44 Bravo. Under cover of overwhelming air power—which included tactical drones, attack aircraft, and more—by 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, more than 50 hours after the operation began, the Joint Personnel Recovery Center announced that Dude 44 Bravo (both the front-seat and rear-seat crew members) had returned to friendly territory.

$1 and below are unofficial news for Monday====

Details of the harrowing rescue of the F15E pilot exposed; rescue plea message “God is good” was even questioned, the CIA’s deception campaign, and the enemy nation building a temporary base

The search-and-rescue operation for the two pilots of the U.S. Air Force F-15E “Strike Eagle” has been dubbed the Easter miracle, but within the U.S. military’s operational framework, being rescued is not a matter of “luck.” It is a tightly controlled and extremely expensive systematized engineering effort. This system is called Combat Search and Rescue (Combat Search and Rescue, CSAR).

When a U.S. pilot is shot down and crashes behind enemy lines, the entire U.S. military machine activates immediately. The rescue process usually consists of several key core stages:

1. The moment of the crash: automated alerts and survival

• Ejection and location: When the pilot ejects, the beacon (Beacon) on the seat automatically activates, sending encrypted location coordinates and identification codes to satellites and early warning aircraft.
• Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE): This is required training for pilots. After landing, their first task is to hide. They use the terrain observed during parachute descent to quickly move away from the crash site (the enemy will search there immediately), find water sources, and dig hiding places.

2. Contact and identity verification

• Encrypted communications: Pilots carry survival radios with frequency-hopping capabilities (such as AN/PRC-112 or higher models) to establish contact with command aircraft in the air or with teammates.
• Identity authentication: To prevent enemy capture and entrapment, the rescue center will ask the pilot extremely personal questions (for example, the name of your high school sports teacher, the make and model of your first car). These answers are recorded in the pilot’s confidential file in advance. If they get even one word wrong, the rescue operation will not be triggered.

3. Forming a “Rescue Task Force” (CSARTF)

The U.S. military won’t just send one aircraft. A typical rescue operation usually includes:

• HH-60W “Jolly Green” helicopters: The core rescue platform, responsible for taking the pilot away.
• HC-130J transport aircraft: Responsible for refueling the helicopters in the air to extend their range, and also serving as on-scene command.
• A-10 attack aircraft or F-15E: Responsible for “suppressing enemy air defenses” (SEAD), conducting carpet bombing of any surrounding threat targets when the helicopters land.
• Electronic warfare aircraft: Conduct jamming so the enemy’s radar becomes effectively blind.

4. Key combat personnel: the airborne search-and-rescue team (Pararescuemen, PJs)

These people are an extremely special unit within U.S. special forces, nicknamed “PJs.”

• They are advanced medics with combat capability.
• They enter the scene via helicopter rappelling or parachuting. Their first task is to check whether the pilot is injured, then pull him up onto the helicopter.
• If landing on site isn’t possible, they use cable and grappling hooks to pull the pilot onto the aircraft.

Establishing a temporary base inside Iran

There were two crew members aboard the F-15 fighter that the U.S. was shot down last Friday; both ejected and escaped. One of them had already been rescued by the U.S. military. Trump said that this pilot’s rescue speed was much faster and was carried out during the day amid Iran’s intense artillery fire. Trump then only confirmed the safety of the other person on Sunday morning. Iranian officials said the aircraft was shot down by their air-defense system.

In Washington, Trump stayed at the White House on Friday, moving back and forth between the Oval Office and an adjacent dining room, because the operation to search for the downed Air Force personnel in Iran was getting ready, and he was receiving the latest updates on the mission to locate that officer at all times.

Regarding the rescue of the second pilot, Trump described this daring U.S. rescue operation as a success in rescuing a “badly injured” Air Force officer, seen as an example of American success. Trump immediately posted online announcing, “We found him!” and provided a detailed account of the “astonishing display of courage and talent,” transforming the potential setback into a display of strength.

Another U.S. Department of Defense official described the first action on Friday as a daytime “bold and quick snatch,” while the second action was carried out at night after establishing a temporary base inside Iran. “The two crew members were separated by several miles, and there were hundreds of soldiers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) everywhere.”

Trump said the pilot was in a treacherous mountainous region in Iran and was being hunted by the enemy, which was closing in every hour. But he was never truly isolated and helpless, because the commander in chief, the Secretary of War, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his comrades were monitoring his location 24 hours a day and actively planning the rescue for him.

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200 special operations force soldiers participate in the operation

In an interview with foreign media, Trump said that about 200 special operations force soldiers participated in this operation. The Iranian forces “just got lucky.” They used shoulder-fired missiles to shoot down the F-15.

As more details of the rescue are revealed, including how the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) diverted the enemy’s attention through a “deception operation.”

According to reports from foreign media, the crew member spent more than 24 hours alone. At one point he crossed rugged terrain and reached a mountain ridge at an altitude of 7,000 feet. Other than a handgun, communications equipment, and a tracking beacon, he had almost nothing else. The crew members of the shot-down aircraft were highly trained for this kind of situation. Their top priority was to stay alive and avoid capture. Their training was: assuming their physical condition allowed and they weren’t injured to the point of being unable to move, they should get as far away from the ejection location as possible and hide themselves to ensure safety.

CIA “deception campaign”

The CIA spread messages in Iran through multiple channels, saying that the U.S. military had already found the second Air Force personnel who ejected from the F-15 and was evacuating him by sea to take him out of Iran. In reality, it was to buy time in order to look for the trapped weapons systems officer (WSO—the second pilot in the fighter behind the pilot).

According to sources, the CIA intercepted a distress signal and passed the intelligence to the Pentagon and the White House. The White House then ordered a rescue mission to begin immediately. Sources said there was initial concern that this “beacon signal” was a “trap” set by Iran.

Trump said that after the weapons systems officer ejected, he transmitted a short and unusual message over the radio: “Power be to God.” Another account said the exact wording was “God is good.”

Trump said the words he said over the radio sounded like what a Muslim would say. Trump added that people who knew the officer explained that he was a devout person, so it made sense for him to say something like that.

After the CIA confirmed early Saturday that it was not a trap, it used advanced technical capabilities to pinpoint the location of the missing Air Force personnel. CIA Director John Ratcliffe informed the Secretary of War Hegseth (Pete Hegseth), the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Kane, and eventually relayed it to Trump.

Within 12 hours, the team had landed in Iran

According to sources: “Within 8 hours, our aircraft were deployed. In nearly 12 hours, our personnel had already landed in Iran. We’ve seen how they treat prisoners of war before. We will do everything we can to make sure we find them first.”

Trump said the U.S. military dispatched dozens of aircraft into Iran and claimed the operation was completed with no American casualties.

MQ-9 drone provides defense

			▲  MQ-9 Reaper

A U.S. assault team moved into the mountains. With U.S. military aircraft dropping bombs to clear the area, the U.S. deployed MQ-9 Reaper drones to protect the area around where the airman was hiding, and to fire on any targets approaching both that area and the U.S. operational area to prevent crowds or any Iranian military and civilians from getting close. Trump kept monitoring everything in the Situation Room.

A senior U.S. official said, “We used every tactical aircraft and B-1 bomber in the U.S. military inventory to carry out multiple large-scale strikes in the surrounding areas to ensure his safety.”

The Air Force units executing the CSAR mission included the most highly trained and most professional personnel in the military. These missions are typically conducted by helicopters, which fly at low altitude over enemy territory while other military aircraft strike and patrol in the area.

Iran turns the red carpet; thousands of people chase

Trump said that at the time, “thousands of barbarians were hunting him, and even civilians were looking for him. They even offered a bounty for whoever could capture him.”

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran said that nomadic tribes living in the mountainous regions of the country opened fire and shot down two Black Hawk helicopters participating in the U.S. rescue mission.

Iranian media said that Iran successfully shot down (or destroyed) several U.S. military aircraft, including a C-130 military transport aircraft (some reports identify it as the special-operations variant MC-130J “Commando II”), and at least two helicopters (identified as Black Hawk helicopters or MH-6 Little Bird helicopters).

The aircraft broke down during evacuation; an emergency dispatch of a new aircraft for rescue

There were multiple twists and turns during the operation, including two damaged U.S. special operations aircraft. The U.S. side had to destroy them on the ground in Iran during the operation. According to CNN citing a source, at a remote airstrip in Iran, two MC-130J special operations transport aircraft had been waiting to bring the assault team members and the rescued Air Force personnel out of the country. But at some point during the operation they were damaged. The military decided to send a new aircraft and destroy the damaged one rather than risk letting them fall into Iran’s hands.

Trump said that during the search and rescue of the two crew members, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) provided the U.S. military with “a little bit” of help. “They’ve always been great partners. They’re great and brave people. We’re like big brothers and little brothers.” And a U.S. Department of Defense official said that Israel did not provide any information about the location of the weapons systems officer, but shared intelligence about the overall situation in the area. Israeli officials said the Israeli Air Force conducted an airstrike to prevent Iranian forces from approaching the area.

Reports said that Israel’s intelligence helped the CIA determine the location of the missing weapons systems officer and ruled out concerns that Iran had set a “trap.” At the same time, Israel stopped its attacks in the area to help this mission. Another Israeli official said Israel delayed some planned strikes against Iran to avoid interfering with the search-and-rescue work; according to two Israeli media sources, Israel also provided intelligence support.

In a statement Sunday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote: “All Israelis are happy for the fearless American warriors who courageously and miraculously rescued the brave American pilots.”