Downed Over Iran, Air Force Officer Recalls ‘Free-Fall’ and a ‘Modern-Day Miracle’
The interview aired Sunday as the lead segment of the 59th-season premiere of “60 Minutes,” giving viewers a rare, first-person account of what happened after a U.S. F-15E two-seat fighter jet was shot down over Iran in April.
The Air Force colonel has not been publicly identified by the Pentagon. Norah O’Donnell, the “60 Minutes” correspondent, said the program agreed to refer to the weapons systems officer only by his mission call sign, “Bravo,” because of security threats from the Iranian government.
Bravo told O’Donnell he felt as if he had been “hit by a freight train” when a shoulder-fired missile struck the jet on April 2. The other officer on board, the pilot and crewmate known as “Alpha,” hit the ejection button.
“I will be thankful to my dying day for my pilot and crewmate, Alpha, for saving our lives and ejecting us,” Bravo said.
After ejecting, Bravo said, he began “free-falling” toward a rugged mountainous area. When he looked up, he saw that his parachute had been damaged in the missile attack—a realization he called “the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen.” Military professionals estimated that he struck the Iranian desert at somewhere between 70 and 100 mph, he said, describing his survival as a “modern-day miracle.”
According to “60 Minutes,” the fall broke Bravo’s back, arm and shoulder. Even so, he managed to hike and climb a 7,000-foot ridgeline to avoid capture. He was stranded behind enemy lines for two days without food or water before two elite Air Force pararescue operators reached him and pulled him out of harm’s way.
“Let’s go,” Bravo recalled telling his rescuers.
The program described the search-and-rescue operation as one of the most complex and risky in U.S. military history. Sunday’s segment did not include an interview with Alpha, who landed five miles away from Bravo after they ejected.
The account underscored the physical toll and operational dangers facing aircrews downed in hostile territory, while also drawing attention to the specialized pararescue teams trained to recover them. It also offered “60 Minutes” a high-profile story as the broadcast seeks to steady itself after a turbulent summer.
The CBS News program returned to the air Sunday after months of upheaval at the storied newsmagazine. In late May, CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss launched a sweeping shake-up, naming technology journalist and documentarian Nick Bilton as executive producer, cutting ties with a group of senior leaders and letting go correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi.
Veteran correspondent Scott Pelley sharply criticized Bilton at a June 1 staff meeting, questioning his qualifications for the role and objecting to the departures of Vega and Alfonsi. Pelley was fired the next day. Alfonsi had previously clashed with Weiss over a segment about the Trump administration’s deportation of Venezuelan men to a prison in El Salvador.
Since then, Weiss and Bilton have brought in new on-air talent, including Ross Douthat, a former opinion columnist at The New York Times who is now a “60 Minutes” correspondent, and Sebastian Junger, a reporter and author who became a contributor. In late July, Bilton announced that O’Donnell had been elevated to full-time correspondent.
Sunday’s season premiere offered an early look at the revamped program, with slight adjustments to its on-air graphics. The other segments were an investigation into “brokers” paid to seek pardons from the Trump administration and an inside look at the Los Angeles Rams football franchise.
In the episode’s final minute, Douthat said “60 Minutes” was planning stories about the artificial intelligence boom.
“We may have a narrow window—this year, not the next 10—to make artificial intelligence safe for humanity. That clock is ticking, and so is ours,” Douthat said, as the show’s signature “tick-tick-tick” sound effect played. “For almost 60 years, it has meant the same thing: journalism you can trust. Where we’re headed, we’re going to need it.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com.