Airman shot down in Iran shares harrowing rescue story

Iran Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance/Handout/Getty Images

The American airman rescued from Iran after his aircraft was shot down in April shared for the first time details about the risky recovery operation during a “60 Minutes” interview Sunday.

“Bravo,” the airman’s mission call sign used during the broadcast to shield his identity, said his parachute was damaged after the plane was hit, and that during free fall, he did everything he could to “unfurl or pull pieces of the parachute loose.”

“It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen,” he said. The fall broke his back, an arm and a shoulder, and left him with a sprained ankle and bloody scrapes to his head and face, he said.

Once he ejected from the F-15, the weapon systems officer managed to avoid detection by encroaching Iran forces, hiking up a 7,000-foot ridge with his injuries while equipped with little more than a pistol, a communication device and a tracking beacon, according to previous accounts by US officials and “Bravo’s” account on Sunday. While the aircraft’s pilot was rescued shortly after the crash, “Bravo” was rescued 50 hours later.

Both crew members have not been publicly identified by the Pentagon out of concern for their safety and as a safeguard against disclosing sensitive information.

“As soon as I found a spot that I felt provided some concealment, I started working toward communication,” “Bravo” told CBS’ Norah O’Donnell. “When I got to the moment where I could review and think about all that I’d gone through, I sent ‘God is good,’” he added, describing the first message he sent.

CNN reported Saturday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and political appointees in his department pushed for the two crew members to participate in the exclusively and highly publicized interview, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Both airmen initially expressed reservations about doing so, while military officials were also wary of revealing classified details of the rescue effort, according to three of the sources. The pilot declined to take part in the interview. CNN also reported that political appointees within Hegseth’s office insisted the interview go forward despite reservations voiced by the military’s chain of command.

“This entire story is a complete lie,” chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said when asked about CNN’s reporting on plans for the segment.

“The decision to participate in the interview was each pilot’s alone — because it is their story,” he added. “As CNN notes, one pilot decided to participate and one did not. Additionally, the Department took great care to ensure operational security, sources, and methods were protected.”

“Bravo” told CBS he hid alone in a mountain crevice for hours, while elite American service members, accompanied by US aircraft dropping bombs to clear the area, raced to locate the officer.

The rescue involved hundreds of American military and intelligence personnel, including special operations forces such as Army Delta Force and Navy SEAL Team Six. CIA operatives mounted a deception campaign beforehand to throw off Iran, whose leaders who had offered a bounty for the airman’s capture.

The CBS broadcast featured declassified video from the Pentagon that showed elite Air Force pararescue operators making their way toward “Bravo” to rescue him. He declined to share what the service members said to him when they finally arrived.

The rescue featured some twists. The US military blew up two damaged MC-130J special operations transport aircraft that had been waiting to take the commandos and the rescued airman out of the country. But they had become damaged at some point during the operation and all 90-plus special operators were briefly stranded. After they were eventually rescued, the US opted to destroy the broken aircraft to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands and then send in new planes.

“Bravo” said the entire ordeal will stay with him. The moment he saw his rescuers arriving on the ridge line where he was hiding, he said, “was one of the greatest moments of my life, and I don’t know how to say it any more clearly than ‘thank you’ for all that they did.”

CNN’s Zachary Cohen, Brian Stelter and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.

伊朗文化和伊斯兰指导部/提供/盖蒂图片社

今年 4 月飞机被伊朗击落后获救的美国飞行员在周日接受“60 分钟”节目采访时，首次分享了这次危险营救行动的细节。

“Bravo”是这名飞行员在广播中用来隐藏其身份的任务呼号。他说，飞机被击中后，他的降落伞损坏了，在自由落体过程中，他尽一切努力“展开或拉开降落伞的碎片”。

“那是我见过的最可怕的事情，”他说。他表示，那次摔倒导致他背部、手臂和肩膀骨折，脚踝扭伤，头部和脸部也擦伤流血。

据美国官员此前的说法以及“布拉沃”周日的描述，这名武器系统操作员从F-15战机弹射后，设法躲过了逼近的伊朗部队的侦察，带着伤势，仅携带一把手枪、一个通讯设备和一个追踪信标，徒步攀登了一座7000英尺高的山脊。飞机飞行员在坠机后不久获救，而“布拉沃”则在50小时后才获救。

出于对两名机组人员安全的考虑，以及为了防止泄露敏感信息，五角大楼没有公开这两名机组人员的身份。

“我一找到一个感觉可以稍微隐蔽的地方，就开始尝试联系别人，” “布拉沃”告诉哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）的诺拉·奥唐纳。“当我能够回顾和思考我所经历的一切时，我发送了‘上帝是仁慈的’，”他补充道，并描述了他发送的第一条信息。

据 CNN 周六报道，多位知情人士透露，国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯及其部门的政治任命人员力促这两名机组人员接受独家且备受瞩目的采访。

据三位消息人士透露，两名飞行员最初都对接受采访有所顾虑，军方官员也担心泄露救援行动的机密细节。飞行员拒绝接受采访。CNN还报道称，尽管军方指挥系统有所保留，但赫格塞斯办公室的政治任命官员坚持要求进行采访。

当被问及 CNN 对该节目计划的报道时，五角大楼首席发言人肖恩·帕内尔表示：“整个故事完全是谎言。”

他补充说：“是否接受采访完全是每位飞行员自己的决定——因为这是他们自己的故事。正如CNN报道的那样，一位飞行员决定接受采访，另一位则没有。此外，国防部非常谨慎地确保了行动安全，并保护了消息来源和采访方法。”

“布拉沃”告诉哥伦比亚广播公司，他独自一人在山缝里躲藏了几个小时，而美国精锐部队成员则在美国飞机投下炸弹清除该地区的同时，争分夺秒地寻找这名军官。

这次营救行动出动了数百名美国军方和情报人员，其中包括陆军三角洲特种部队和海军海豹突击队第六分队等特种作战部队。中央情报局特工事先策划了一场欺骗行动，以迷惑伊朗——伊朗领导人曾悬赏捉拿这名飞行员。

哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）的节目播放了五角大楼解密的视频，视频显示空军精锐伞降救援队员正前往“Bravo”营救他。他拒绝透露救援人员最终到达时对他说了些什么。

这次救援行动可谓一波三折。美军炸毁了两架受损的MC-130J特种作战运输机，这两架飞机原本准备接走突击队员和获救的飞行员离开伊朗。但在行动过程中，这两架飞机在某个环节受损，导致90多名特种作战人员一度滞留。最终获救后，为了防止飞机落入伊朗手中，美方决定销毁受损飞机，并派遣新的飞机执行任务。

“布拉沃”说，整个磨难将永远铭刻在他的记忆中。他说，当他看到救援人员抵达他藏身的山脊线时，“那是我生命中最伟大的时刻之一，我不知道还能用什么更恰当的语言来表达我对他们所做的一切的感激之情，只能说‘谢谢’。”

CNN的扎卡里·科恩、布莱恩·斯特尔特和凯文·利普塔克对本报道亦有贡献。