Second US warplane ‘crashes in Persian Gulf’ after F-15 fighter jet was downed in Iran sparking race to find missing airman – recap

Iran has claimed it targeted an ‘enemy’ A-10 aircraft in southern waters near the Hormuz Strait.

The New York Times reported earlier that a second US Air Force combat plane had crashed in the Gulf region today.

The aircraft’s pilot was rescued, US officials said.

A second Air Force combat plane crashed in the Gulf region today, according to US officials cited by the New York Times.

The pilot of the A-10 Warthog attack aircraft was safely rescued following the incident that unfolded near to the Strait of Hormuz.

It happened at around the same time a US fighter jet with two crew members on board was shot down over Iran today.

One pilot has been rescued and another remains unaccounted for.

The picture below is a file photo of a A-10 Warthog attack aircraft.

The Israeli military said Saturday it detected missiles fired from Iran, as Tehran pressed on with its retaliatory fire on the country after a US-Israeli bombing campaign began at the end of February.

‘Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,’ the Israeli military said on Telegram.

The F-15 jet that was shot down over Iran is believed to be based out of the UK, an official told our US partner network NBC News.

The official said the aircraft was specifically based out of RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.

The base is owned by the UK Ministry of Defence and is leased to the US Air Force.

US military aircraft have been landing there since the war began, with a fleet of A-10 Thunderbolts – known as the Warthog – arriving most recently this week.

Earlier an Iranian missile attack was reported in southern Israel.

Israeli media now say theres been another Iranian missile attack on central Israel.

The YNet news outlet said a fire broke out in an apartment in Rosh Haayin, while a building in Petah Tikva and streets in Tel Aviv were damaged. It said emergency crews were also in Bnei Brak.

The Channel 12 broadcaster reported a ‘fall’ in Givatayim as well.

As American forces race against time to locate a missing fighter jet pilot, a retired Air Force general has explained how to survive if you are shot down.

Former brigadier general Houston Cantwell said: ‘The best intelligence you’re going to get is as you’re floating to the ground.

‘Your best view of where you may want to go or where you may want to avoid is while you’re coming down in your parachute.

‘Look around, because once you’re on the ground, you can’t see very far.’

Hitting the ground – even with a parachute – risks foot, ankle, and leg injuries, the former airman explained.

‘There are many stories of survivors from Vietnam that had severe injuries – compound fractures – just from the ejection,’ he said.

Upon landing, ‘take an inventory of yourself to figure out, what condition am I in? Can I even move? Am I even mobile?’

Flight crew then start an assessment – figuring out where they are, whether it is behind enemy lines, where they can hide, and how they can communicate.

‘Try to avoid enemy capture, as long as you can,; Cantwell said. ‘And if I were in a desert environment, I’d want to try to find some water.’

Simultaneously, Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) teams – highly-trained soldiers and pilots already on alert – would be activated.

On the ground, ‘my priority would be, first of all, concealment, because I don’t want to be captured,’ he said. ‘I want to try to get to a location where I can get extracted.’

In a city, that may be a rooftop. In a rural setting, a field where helicopters can land. Movement is best at night, he said.

American pilots do have a small kit in their ejection chair or on their flight suit to assist them.

‘That’s going to be some basic sustenance, water (and) some survival equipment,’ he said. ‘It’s going to have some communication equipment, radio, all these types of things to be able to try to get to get picked up as quickly as possible.’

Thousands of people have been killed across the Middle East since the start of the Iran war.

These are the latest death tolls that have been reported.

• IRAN

US-based rights group HRANA said 3,531 people have been killed. It said 1,607 of those were civilians, including at least 244 children.

• LEBANON

Lebanese authorities say 1,368 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since March 2, including at least 124 children.

It is unclear if the death toll reported by the authorities includes 400 Hezbollah fighters who have been killed

• IRAQ

At least 108 people have been killed since the start of the crisis, according to Iraqi health authorities.

• ISRAEL

Missiles launched from Iran and Lebanon have killed 19 people in Israel, according to Israel’s ambulance service. The Israeli military said 10 of its soldiers were also killed in southern Lebanon.

• UNITED STATES

Thirteen service members have been killed.

• UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Twelve people have been killed in Iranian attacks, including two army soldiers, according to the UAE authorities.

• QATAR

Seven people were killed on March 22 in a deadly helicopter crash in Qatar’s territorial waters.

• KUWAIT

Authorities have reported seven deaths, including three people killed in Iranian attacks, two interior ministry officers and two army soldiers.

• WEST BANK

Four Palestinian women were killed in an Iranian missile attack in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

• SYRIA

Four people were killed when an Iranian missile struck a building in the southern city of Sweida on February 28, state news agency SANA said.

• BAHRAIN

Two people were killed in two separate Iranian attacks, with the most recent hitting a residential building in the capital Manama, according to the interior ministry.

• OMAN

Two people were reported killed on March 13 in a drone strike on an industrial zone in Sohar province.

One person died earlier when a projectile hit a tanker off the coast of Muscat, the vessel’s manager said.

• SAUDI ARABIA

Two people were killed when a projectile fell on a residential location in Al-Kharj city, southeast of the capital Riyadh.

• FRANCE

One French soldier was killed and six others were wounded after a drone attack in northern Iraq, where they were providing counter-terrorism training.

A man has been killed in an attack by an Israeli tank in Syria.

A fire broke out in the Qunietra province in the country’s south near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

State news agency SANA said that the man was killed in an attack by ‘an Israeli tank’, while state television said a car was targeted.

Syria’s foreign ministry in a statement that it condemned ‘in the strongest terms the crime committed by Israeli occupation forces in targeting a civilian car with a tank shell’.

It said the attack ‘led to the death of a civilian’, calling it ‘a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law’ and urging the international community to help ‘stop these repeated violations’.

President Donald Trump proposed boosting defence spending to $1.5trillion in his 2027 budget released on Friday – the largest request in decades.

The sizable increase for the Pentagon, some 44 per cent, had been telegraphed by the President even before the US-led war in Iran.

The annual budget is considered a reflection of the administration’s values and does not carry the force of law.

The massive document typically highlights an administration’s priorities, but Congress, which handles federal spending issues, is free to reject it and often does.