An American fighter jet reportedly shot down over Iran came from a US Air Force squadron based in the UK, it has been reported.
Unverified open-source footage of wreckage of a jet said to be from a mountainous area in Iran shows what may be the insignia of the 494th Fighter Squadron, based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.
In the images, part of the tail shows a red band and what appears to be a section of the shield of the US Air Forces in Europe. The wreckage is consistent with that of an F-15E Strike Eagle, which operates with two crew members.
A US official has told NBC News that one of the pilots was rescued and is alive.
Aviation experts told The Guardian that the wreckage was in fact from an F-15E and from the 494th squadron.
The search
A search by the US military is underway to locate the pilot, according to Iranian media affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as sources who spoke to US media.
A US official told a number of US news outlets that a fighter jet had been shot down over Iran, while two sources told CBS News a search for a downed F-15 fighter jet is underway.
However, footage of the wreckage that’s now coming out suggests it might not be an F-35 after all. It looks more like a U.S. F-15E, possibly from the 48th Fighter Wing, which is based in the UK at RAF Lakenheath.
— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝕯𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝕯𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔱△ 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇺🇲🇬🇷 (@TheDeadDistrict) April 3, 2026
2/ pic.twitter.com/N91nuGtgVQ
Images posted on social media that were verified by CBS showed two helicopters and a refuelling plane flying low over Khuzestan Province in the southwest of Iran.
A social media account that claimed to be linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) posted an image of an ejector seat.
A Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) aviation expert told The Guardian that the seat appeared to be consistent with the type found in F-15Es.
“If genuine, it would suggest that at least one of the two aircrew did eject safely,” he said.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Thursday morning denied a fighter pilot had been shot down on an island in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil artery for the world’s oil over which Iran has a stranglehold. It is not clear if the CENTCOM statement referred to the most recent Iranian reports.
An Iranian newsreader on state TV, meanwhile, has said there are rewards in place for anyone who captures the pilot alive.
دستورالعمل روایت این روزهای آمریکایی ها:
— سازمان اطلاعات سپاه (@IRGCIntelli) April 3, 2026
فقدان بانک اهداف را بگویید عملیات پویا
شکست را پایان مأموریت معنا کنید
اختلاف و استعفا را تغییر فرماندهی جا بزنید
نیاز به توافق از سر ضعف را، توافق سریع و هوشمندانه بفروشید
عقبنشینی منطقهای را بازتعریف اولویتها بنامید#آخرین_نبرد pic.twitter.com/KkZdRGYmK8
Disaster for Trump?
If a US jet has been shot down in Iran, then it could present a tricky scenario for President Donald Trump.
He has been openly mocked by Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf since reports of the downed jet emerged.
“After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, this brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from 'regime change' to 'Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please?'” a social media post from Ghalibaf said.
Trump campaigned against “forever wars” during his election bid in 2024, but has taken a hard line on foreign policy matters since his presidency.
He sent US military personnel to decapitate the regime in Venezuela, capturing the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro.
At the outset of the war, Trump’s justification for military action in Iran was that “this was our last best chance to strike”.
Since the war began, oil prices have risen sharply, hurting American consumers at the pump, while Trump and US defence secretary Pete Hegseth have both said a number of times that the US has effectively won. This is despite continued threats of escalation by Trump, as well as suggestions of a deal with Iran.
Trump has even said that Iran “can’t do a thing” about US planes flying over the Middle Eastern country due to air superiority.
A scenario in which potentially two US service personnel are captured alive could provide leverage for Iran as part of a deal over the conflict.
The US public would likely be very concerned about any US military members in the hands of the Iranian regime.
One US official told NBC News that one of the pilots was rescued and is alive.
Iran has played a major role in how successful previous American presidencies have been. Jimmy Carter’s presidency was largely defined by the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and a lengthy hostage crisis in which 66 Americans were held at the US Embassy.
The crisis culminated in Operation Eagle Claw in 1980, an attempt to rescue 53 remaining embassy staff held captive, but it was unsuccessful and also resulted in the deaths of eight US servicemen.
