U.S. Air Force officer shot down in Iran says he prayed while “free-falling” to the ground behind enemy lines

Updated on: September 13, 2026 / 7:59 PM EDT / CBS News

The Air Force colonel needed help when he crashed over a mountainous part of Iran's desert, separated from his crewmate, the pilot of the F-15E, after being shot down by Iran in April.

The U.S. aviator free-fell to the ground at an estimated 70-100 mph; the Iranian shoulder-fired missile had damaged his parachute. He was the backseater, the weapons-systems officer on a two-man crew with the mission call sign Dude 44. The pilot was Alpha; he was Bravo.

"At one point when I looked up and saw no parachute, that was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen," Bravo said in his first public account of what happened. "So I paused, right then, and I prayed, 'Lord, your will be done. But if I'm getting through this, I need help.'"

Help took two days to come. Bravo, who broke his back, an arm and a shoulder after hitting the ground at such high speed, hid and survived two days behind enemy lines before his rescue. He calls it a "modern-day miracle."

"I believe that it's a testament to God's provision in my life to bring me through that…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/