The pilot of a downed F-15E fighter jet remained missing as of early Saturday morning, Eastern Standard Time.
Iranian forces hit the fighter jet on Thursday while it was flying over Iran’s Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province.
While the pilot’s co-pilot was successfully rescued, the first pilot remained missing, though there were rumors in Israeli media that he’d at least gotten in touch with the U.S. military by encrypted radio.
🚨 JUST IN: The missing US F-15E pilot did SUCCESSFULLY make contact with the US military via encrypted radio earlier today, per N12
GREAT sign.
US Special Forces continue working to pinpoint his exact location, and have 7 hours of darkness left
Darkness is MUCH in our favor pic.twitter.com/61HTboAaN0
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) April 3, 2026
By Saturday morning, the U.S. had lost the night advantage in searching for the missing pilot.
Retired U.S. Marine combat pilot Capt. Ron Alvarado explained to the New York Post that the night had given them an advantage because of their superior night vision and infrared communication technology.
According to Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin, the jet was in fact shot down during the night.
“So what we have learned in the meantime since we first started reporting this hours ago, is that the F-15E was flying late at night, Thursday night. It was dark out,” she said.
“It was late night Eastern Time when it was shot down. That was, it was still dark in Iran at the time. It was early morning hours, but still dark when those pilots did have to eject,” she added.
The F-15E fighter jet wasn’t the only American plane to be hit on Friday. Another plane was hit while searching for the missing pilots — but the lone pilot was safely rescued after he ejected over Kuwaiti airspace.
Iran also reportedly struck two U.S. military helicopters involved in the original rescue effort, though both thankfully made it back to safety.
The Iranian government has offered a $60,000 USD reward to any Iranian who finds and turns in the missing pilot.
“If you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police, you will receive a valuable prize,” an anchor on Iranian state media said.
BREAKING: Iran offers a reward to the public for the capture of a U.S. pilot alive after claiming to have shot down a Black Hawk helicopter. pic.twitter.com/Bnf8Hippc1
— Whiplash347 (@Whiplash437) April 3, 2026
President Donald Trump told The Independent that he’s not yet sure what he’ll do if Iran captures the missing pilot and, say, tries to use him as a hostage or even hurts him.
“We hope that’s not going to happen,” the president said.
All this is part of a wider conflict that kicked off in late February.
“The conflict, launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28, has rippled across the region,” according to the Associated Press. “It has so far killed thousands, upended global markets, cut off key shipping routes, spiked fuel prices and shows no signs of slowing as Iran responds to U.S. and Israeli airstrikes with attacks across the region.”
“Missile and drone strikes continued Saturday with an apparent Iranian drone damaging the headquarters of the U.S. tech giant Oracle in Dubai. Israel’s military said Iran had launched missiles toward the country.”
The downing of the jet likewise comes only days after the president vowed that his administration has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.”
BREAKING: President Trump announces on Truth Social that the United States has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.”
He is now calling for coordination with countries that rely on oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz to “take care” of securing the passage.
TRUMP: “The… pic.twitter.com/1TRRWHUwPY
— Overton (@overton_news) March 14, 2026
The latest major attack occurred when an Iranian drone struck the Dubai headquarters of the U.S. corporation Oracle on Saturday.
“The attack targeted the headquarters, which sits along Dubai’s main Sheikh Zayed Road highway,” the AP reported. “Footage … outside the United Arab Emirates showed damage to the building. A large hole could be seen in the building’s southwestern corner, with the ‘e’ in ‘Oracle’ on a neon sign damaged.”
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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