New Details Emerge on F-15E WSO Recovery Operation — Rescue Completed April 3–5, 2026

A French-language investigative report published April 6, 2026 provided new specifics on the Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) operation that recovered the Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) of an F-15E Strike Eagle shot down over Iran between April 3–5, 2026. The report details the recovery timeline and personnel involved in the high-risk extraction, conducted under active hostilities in Iranian airspace. Both crew members of the downed F-15E — the pilot and WSO — are now confirmed recovered. The successful dual-crew extraction under threat from Iranian integrated air defenses represents a significant CSAR achievement. The shootdown itself remains one of the first confirmed US combat aircraft losses to hostile fire in over two decades, and the recovery operation's details add granularity to earlier reporting by President Trump confirming the pilots' rescue.