{"id":9089,"date":"2026-04-03T11:05:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/03\/reports-us-fighter-jet-downed-over-iran-one-crew-member-rescued\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T11:05:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:05:44","slug":"reports-us-fighter-jet-downed-over-iran-one-crew-member-rescued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/03\/reports-us-fighter-jet-downed-over-iran-one-crew-member-rescued\/","title":{"rendered":"Reports: US fighter jet downed over Iran, one crew member rescued"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Plumes
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Plumes of smoke rise following an explosion on March 5, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Majid Saeedi\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 A U.S. fighter jet went down over Iran Friday and one crew member has been rescued, according to several media reports. Iranian state media reported the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was responsible.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The attack marks the first time Iran has shot down U.S. military aircraft since the war\u2019s start.\u00a0Reuters<\/a> and the\u00a0New York Times<\/a> have cited U.S. officials confirming the incident.\u00a0Axios<\/a> has cited two unnamed sources. Sources told news media the aircraft was an F-15.<\/p>\n

Another U.S. combat plane went down into the Persian Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, and the single pilot was rescued, according to media reports citing U.S. officials. Whether the A-10 Warthog was downed by enemy fire is unclear. The crash occurred roughly around the same time that the F-15 was attacked.<\/p>\n

The Pentagon has not responded to States Newsroom\u2019s requests for confirmation of the reports.<\/p>\n

A U.S. military search and rescue operation is reportedly underway, according to American officials cited in the Times report and Iranian state media.\u00a0<\/p>\n

U.S. Central Command, which posts about the war every day on social media, had not posted information about the downed jet as of 5 p.m. Eastern.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump has not commented on the incidents. At 3:20 p.m. Eastern, he\u00a0wrote<\/a> on his social media platform, Truth Social, \u201cKEEP THE OIL, ANYONE?\u201d<\/p>\n

The IRGC reportedly downed the jet, which Iranian media said was an F-35, over central Iran and the crew ejected from the plane, according to the Iranian Tasmin News Agency, citing IRGC officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tasmin also claimed U.S. Black Hawk helicopters and a C-130 Hercules aircraft were searching for the pilot. A Black Hawk was hit by fire during the rescue operation but was able to remain in flight and land in Iraq, according to the New York Times, citing U.S. and Israeli officials.<\/p>\n

Trump vowed to hit Iran \u2018extremely hard\u2019<\/h4>\n

The apparent attack came two days after Trump delivered a formal primetime\u00a0address<\/a> telling the nation the U.S. objectives in Iran were \u201cnearing completion\u201d but that American forces would be hitting Iran \u201cextremely hard\u201d over the next two to three weeks.<\/p>\n

The U.S. entered the joint war with Israel on Feb. 28, killing the country\u2019s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and numerous other senior leaders. Khamenei\u2019s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has taken over as the Islamic state\u2019s top cleric, according to Iran\u2019s government, but he has not been seen in public.<\/p>\n

The fighting continues to rock global energy markets after Iran\u2019s takeover of the Strait of Hormuz, a major passageway for one-fifth of the world\u2019s petroleum and liquid natural gas supply.<\/p>\n

A gallon of gas in the U.S. now costs just above $4 on average, according to AAA, the highest since 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine. Brent crude oil, the international standard, was trading at $109 a barrel as of Friday morning.<\/p>\n

The war has taken thousands of civilian lives across the Middle East and injured tens of thousands more. Thirteen U.S. troops have been killed.<\/p>\n

Energy and other civilian infrastructure has been badly damaged in Iran and across the region. Trump posted a video on Thursday on Truth Social of U.S. strikes destroying a major bridge connecting the country\u2019s capital Tehran to Karaj.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump has repeated several times over the past week that the U.S. will bomb Iran \u201cback to the stone ages.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Plumes of smoke rise following an explosion on March 5, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Majid Saeedi\/Getty Images) WASHINGTON \u2014 A U.S. fighter jet went down over Iran Friday and one crew member has been rescued, according to several media reports. Iranian state media reported the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was responsible.\u00a0\u00a0 The attack…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nReports: US fighter jet downed over Iran, one crew member rescued - WestplexNews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/03\/reports-us-fighter-jet-downed-over-iran-one-crew-member-rescued\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reports: US fighter jet downed over Iran, one crew member rescued - WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Plumes of smoke rise following an explosion on March 5, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. 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