U.S. Air Force F-15E Pilot Shot Down Over Iran After Earlier Kuwait Incident

An F-15E Strike Eagle was struck by a surface-to-air missile over Iran on April 3, prompting the pilot to eject. The pilot had already survived a separate friendly-fire incident over Kuwait in the opening days of the conflict, when three F-15E Strike Eagles were mistakenly shot down by a Kuwaiti fighter jet. Six aircrew members ejected safely during the Kuwait incident.

April 3 Shootdown The pilot sustained serious injuries after the April 3 missile strike and was rescued after several hours. The second crew member remained in hiding for nearly two days before being recovered. The dual incidents were first reported by national security reporter Sean Naylor on his Substack publication The High Side.

CBS News later confirmed the account with two people familiar with the events.

"The courage demonstrated by both the pilot and the weapons system officer while isolated and them evading the enemy cannot be overstated," Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said during an April briefing at the White House. "Their grit and warfighting tenacity is a direct result of the absolute trust they have in our rescue forces, their training and their will to survive and return," Caine said.

"It is a highly unusual coincidence," said Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, who is the Dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. Deptula told CBS News he could not recall a pilot being shot down in separate incidents during the same campaign since potentially as far back as the Vietnam War.

"It's like getting hit by lightning twice," Deptula said. U.S. Central Command declined to comment on the reports.