KEPRI POST – United States (US) President Donald Trump said the US military was deploying 155 fighter planes in a major operation to rescue a pilot who was missing after his plane was shot down in Iran.
Trump conveyed this at a press conference at the White House on Monday (6/4/2026). He said the pilot was found, but suffered serious injuries.
“The pilot had quite serious injuries,” Trump said.
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Destroy the Cargo Plane
During the rescue operation, the US military was also forced to destroy a number of cargo planes at the operation location.
According to Trump, the planes contain communications equipment and anti-missile technology that must not fall into the hands of opposing parties.
“We blew up those old planes,” Trump said as he explained the details of the rescue operation.
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After that, search and evacuation operations continued using faster and lighter aircraft to speed up the rescue process.
Trump acknowledged that the decision had sparked debate among the military because of its high risk.
“Hundreds of people could have died. There were people in the military who said this step was unwise, and I understand that. But I decided to do it,” he said.
A-10 Plane Shot Down
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine explained that the US Air Force A-10 Warthog aircraft that was shot down on Friday (3/4) was carrying out a rescue mission known as the Sandy mission.
In this mission, the aircraft was tasked with protecting the rescue team by positioning itself between the evacuation troops and enemy fire.
According to Caine, the plane was hit by Iranian fire several times, but the pilot was still able to fly the plane out of Iranian territory before finally ejecting in a safer area.
“The plane…
