The two American pilots shot down over Iran were located within hours thanks to a standard emergency locator transmitter built into their aircraft. The device, known as an ELT, automatically sent their coordinates to search and rescue satellites after the aircraft’s systems detected impact. Military officials confirmed the pilots were recovered safely the same day.
The incident occurred during a reconnaissance mission in Iranian airspace. Iranian authorities had earlier claimed the aircraft violated their airspace and was shot down by air defenses. The US military did not dispute the location but stated the flight was operating under standard procedures for the region.
According to a Pentagon spokesperson, the ELT functioned as designed. It is a mandatory safety feature on military aircraft, designed to activate upon crash detection. The system’s signal was picked up by the Cospas-Sarsat international search and rescue satellite network, which relayed the pilots’ exact position to recovery teams.
This is the second time in five years that an ELT has enabled the rapid recovery of downed pilots in the Middle East. The device is credited with saving lives in similar incidents, including the 2018 shootdown of a US drone near the Strait of Hormuz.
The Pentagon has not released further details about the pilots or the mission. Iran has not commented on the recovery operation.
Source: tu.no