US Pilot Survives Being Shot Down Twice in a Month: "Like Being Struck by Lightning Twice"

US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle Pilot
Survives Both Kuwaiti Friendly Fire and Iranian Missile Attack

A US military fighter jet pilot is reported to have survived being shot down twice within about a month during the US-Iran war.

US F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet. Stock photo unrelated to the article. AP/Yonhap News Agency.

CBS reported on June 3 (local time) that the US Air Force F-15E pilot who was shot down over Iran in April was the same person as the pilot who was shot down in March due to friendly fire from Kuwaiti forces.

This pilot was aboard an F-15E Strike Eagle over Kuwait on March 2, when the jet was shot down along with two others as a result of a mistaken attack by Kuwait's air defense system. All six crew members on the three jets managed to successfully eject and survived.

About a month later, on April 3, the fighter jet the pilot was flying was shot down again over Iranian airspace by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. The pilot ejected once more, this time sustaining serious injuries but was rescued within several hours. The weapon systems officer (WSO) who was on board with him managed to hide for a period and was rescued after nearly two days.

Dan Caine, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated in a White House briefing after the two men were rescued, "The courage shown by the pilot and weapon systems officer, who survived in isolation while evading the enemy, cannot be overstated," adding, "Their perseverance and fighting spirit are a direct result of absolute trust in the rescue teams, rigorous training, and an unyielding will to return home alive."

David Deptula, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, called it "an extremely rare coincidence," adding, "I can't recall a case since the Vietnam War of a pilot being shot down twice in the same theater of operations, each time in separate incidents." He further remarked, "It's like being struck by lightning twice."

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