US F-15 fighter shot down over Iran as search for missing crew unfolds

[0:00] A major development in the war with Iran. Just minutes ago, U.S. sources confirmed to CNN [0:05] that an American fighter jet has been shot down over Iran and a desperate and very dangerous [0:12] search and rescue mission for the crew is now underway. Three U.S. sources are confirming [0:17] earlier Iranian state media reports. Those reports included these images you're seeing [0:22] right here on the screen of what it claimed were a downed U.S. was a downed U.S. force fighter jet. [0:27] CNN has reached out to U.S. Central Command for comment. I want to bring in CNN's Jim Schudo, [0:33] who is in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Elena Treen at the White House. Jim, to kick it off with you, [0:37] what more are you learning? U.S. officials now confirming that a U.S. fighter jet was shot down [0:42] over Iranian territory and that a search and rescue operation has been lost and to our knowledge [0:48] remains underway. In fact, there have been images circulating online, geolocated by CNN, [0:56] which are consistent. [0:57] With a search and rescue operation, they show both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters, [1:04] including one video that shows the refueling of two helicopters, and that's notable because they [1:10] would be refueled to stay in the air, which would indicate that they've been in the air for some time [1:15] conducting these search and rescue operations. A serious, arguably one of the most serious [1:22] circumstances in wartime is to have U.S. forces behind enemy lines, [1:27] shot down behind enemy lines, and to then launch a search and rescue operation, which though [1:33] they are trained for, these crews are positioned for these operations and trained for these [1:37] operations. Those operations themselves are dangerous as well because they put additional [1:44] U.S. forces over Iranian territory in wartime and where it's already been demonstrated that [1:50] Iran maintains the capability to threaten U.S. aircraft having shot down one. So those forces [1:56] will be operating with great care. [1:57] But also with immediacy to get those pilots safely and in time. We should note that Iranian [2:05] state TV, as it earlier reported the shoot down, was exhorting viewers to turn in pilots if they [2:13] were to find them before U.S. forces do. So one might say there's something of a race going on, [2:19] right, between Iranian authorities and forces and U.S. forces to get those pilots to safety. [2:26] All right, Jim. [2:27] Judo, thank you. We hope that they are safe and that they are rescued. We appreciate it. [2:31] Let's go now to Elena Treen at the White House. Elena, what are you hearing there? [2:36] Yeah, look, so this is reporting from, you know, three U.S. officials to my colleague, [2:41] Haley Britsky, Kevin Liptak, and I, as Jim laid out, that a U.S. fighter jet has been shot down [2:46] over Iran and search and rescue is underway. I will note that at this point, there is very [2:51] little information we actually know about what is happening related to this. We do not know [2:57] where the... [2:58] where the plane went down. We do not know the status of the crew on board. And we are not [3:04] hearing any official word from the U.S. military or the White House at this moment, though, [3:09] of course, we do know that they are monitoring this very closely. And obviously, this is a very [3:13] sensitive thing. And so they're being very careful with what they're going to be putting out [3:17] publicly. Now, I will say one thing we have been hearing, of course, is, you know, repeatedly I'm [3:22] hearing in my conversations with people in that building behind me, you have to be careful with [3:25] what you're hearing from the Iranian state media, which, of course, has been sharing a lot of [3:28] videos and images this morning of this. But what we did hear as well from the state-run Tasman [3:33] agency, they said that the search for any missing crew had, quote, so far been unsuccessful. [3:40] And I do want to say, part of the reason this is so notable is because this incident does mark the [3:45] first time that a U.S. aircraft has been shot down over Iran since the beginning of this conflict. [3:52] For context, we do know that, you know, near the beginning of the war, three F-15s were mistakenly [3:58] shot down in a friendly fighter incident by Kuwaiti air defenses. But this is the first [4:04] time we're seeing them shot down by enemy fire. Now, again, we are waiting to hear what the White [4:10] House will ultimately say on this and similarly with the military. But it is a huge blow for this [4:16] Trump administration, particularly at a time when you've heard the president try to project [4:20] confidence about completely diminishing Iran's military capabilities. And so we'll keep you [4:26] posted as we learn more on this, Wolf and Pam. We're getting this new image coming into CNN [4:31] right now. This is an image published by the Iranian state media, and it appears to show a [4:36] damaged fighter jet ejection seat on the ground. Look at that. A CNN analysis of this image [4:42] indicates this seat is consistent with a model used in a U.S. F-15E fighter jet. The seat which [4:50] separates from the aircrew during the ejection process appears to have sustained damage with [4:56] a portion of the jet. [4:56] It's back structure missing. And we're also learning that President Trump has been briefed [5:02] on this situation. All right, Wolf, let's bring in retired Lieutenant Colonel Amy McGrath. She's [5:07] a former Marine combat fighter pilot, and we should note she's also running as a Democrat [5:12] for Senate in Kentucky. Thanks for coming on. First off, what is your immediate reaction to [5:16] this news that a U.S. fighter jet has been shot down in Iran? You just saw that picture there of [5:21] the ejected seat. There's a search underway for the aircraft's crew. [5:25] Well, my immediate [5:29] immediate response is or thought is, you know, really thinking of the families of this of the [5:36] aircrew here. Look, I have always felt like Iran is a very big country. It's not the same as Iraq [5:46] or Afghanistan. The administration has said that they have complete air supremacy and air [5:53] superiority and that, you know, the president has said, well, we've decimated, [5:59] they're surface air missile capabilities. But a lot of us who flew fighter jets and know this space, [6:06] shall we say, are very worried that that is not the case. And I think that this sort of just shows [6:14] that this F-15 was apparently shot down. And, you know, we're hopefully the ongoing operations will [6:23] get these this aircrew out of here. But I'm very worried. Can you give us a little sense of the sort [6:29] of training? [6:30] What do these fighter pilots get for situations like this? [6:33] Sure. We have the best training in the world for fighter pilots. We all go through survival school, [6:42] whether you're in the Air Force or the Marine Corps, the Navy or even the Army. If you're going [6:47] to be flying over enemy territory, you're going to go through survival school in which we you're [6:53] trained on how to survive, but also how to survive a prisoner of war situation. So if you are alive [7:03] after the ejection, which, you know, the ejection itself is a very violent thing to happen to the body. [7:10] So, you know, hopefully these these crew made it through the ejection. But if you are alive, you are [7:15] trained on how to communicate to the search and rescue forces that you know are going to be coming. [7:22] I mean, I think that's one of the things that we pride ourselves in military aviation. We've got [7:28] friends out there that are going to come find us. And so even if you're not alive, [7:33] there's we have mechanisms to like beacons, shall we say, to find these remains. So hopefully [7:42] we will be able to get these these aircrew back. But we are we are trained. And right now, [7:50] that's that's about as much as I can say, because it is a sensitive ongoing operation that you've [7:56] talked about earlier. To the extent you can tell us about the sort of defenses these crew members [8:03] have, you know, how do you think they're going to react to the situation when they eject from an [8:11] aircraft over enemy territory? Well, that's a great question when you know, in an F-15E, [8:16] it's much like the aircraft that I flew and the F-18 Delta, we have a pilot and a weapons systems [8:22] officer. And, you know, when you eject, you don't you don't have a ton of weaponry. You know, you [8:28] might have your radio to be able to to call and have friendly forces try to find you. And you may [8:35] have a gun on you and maybe a knife. And that's about it. I mean, there's just not a lot of room [8:41] in the cockpit for extra stuff. So I would say another thing to think about here is in ejecting [8:49] over a place like Iran right now, think about the fact that we don't really know if the population [8:55] there is for us or against us. And that that makes it difficult. I mean, we had sort of this same [9:04] thing in Iraq and Afghanistan as well. [9:06] If you're going to be picked up by somebody who is going to turn you over to the Iranian forces [9:12] that are going to use you and capture you, or is the population happy that you're there and want to [9:19] help you? That we don't know. And so anybody that gets shot down over that over that space is having [9:28] to deal with that uncertainty. It's interesting, Colonel, an anchor for Iran's official Fars news [9:36] media said yesterday that the reward was being offered for anyone capturing a, quote, enemy [9:42] pilot or pilots. How concerning is that for you? Well, it's to be expected, right. And, you know, [9:51] anytime you are trained to go into enemy territory, you know that that sort of thing [9:55] is going to going to happen. The government there is probably going to do everything it can [10:00] to find those pilots and weapon systems officer, and they'll do anything, you know, they'll they'll [10:07] influence the population to try to turn them over. [10:09] So yeah, that's what it's like. I mean, I believe or at least I believe in that. [10:09] And again, you know, we just don't know the status of that. [10:13] The other thing is, where did this happen within Iran? [10:18] This is Iran is a huge area. [10:21] People have to understand that Iran is the size landmass of Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan combined. [10:30] So you're talking a long way. [10:33] If this happened somewhere in the middle of Iran, then it's going to be very hard to sustain operations to try to find these aircrew. [10:41] But if it happened closer to the coast, you know, perhaps that's that's a better indication of, you know, our forces being able to stay on on scene, shall we say, and try to get the folks back.