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The Air Force pilot whose F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down by Iranian forces on April 3 had also been at the controls of one of three American jets downed by a Kuwaiti F/A-18 in a friendly fire incident less than five weeks before, making him almost certainly the first U.S. fixed-wing pilot to be shot down twice in the same conflict since the Vietnam War, according to current and former Air Force officials.
The weapon systems officer aboard the same aircraft suffered injuries when his parachute failed to open properly after the pair ejected following the Iranian missile strike, a former senior Air Force official who was briefed on the episode told The High Side.
The March 1 incident, confirmed by U.S. Central Command as an "apparent friendly fire" episode, resulted in the loss of three F-15E Strike Eagles over Kuwait during Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. military campaign against Iran. All six crew members from those three aircraft ejected and were safely recovered. The Kuwaiti F/A-18 reportedly launched three missiles, downing all three jets. Questions about how allied identification systems failed to prevent the engagement have remained unresolved.
Less than five weeks later, on April 3, the same pilot was back in the cockpit when Iranian forces shot down his Strike Eagle over southwestern Iran. The pilot was rescued within hours. The weapon systems officer, whose parachute malfunction left him injured on the ground, evaded capture for roughly 48 hours in rugged terrain before being recovered in a large-scale combat search-and-rescue operation involving special operations forces and dozens of aircraft.
American fixed-wing pilots were shot down at far higher rates during Vietnam War than in any engagement since, making a double shootdown within a single modern campaign an exceptionally rare event.
The F-15E Strike Eagle is a two-seat, dual-role fighter-bomber operated by the Air Force primarily for strike missions, with the pilot handling flight and the weapon systems officer managing sensors, targeting, and weapons employment.
The April 3 shootdown had already drawn attention as the first confirmed loss of a manned U.S. aircraft to enemy fire during Operation Epic Fury. The rescue of both crew members was ultimately hailed by senior U.S. officials, with President Donald Trump confirming the recovery of the second airman. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also publicly acknowledged Israeli assistance in the operation.
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