59th Season Premiere of 60 MINUTES Airs Sun., Sept. 13 at 7:30 PM on CBS and Paramount+

After a U.S. warplane was shot down over Iran, the Air Force and American special forces rescued the two-man crew in one of the largest and most complex rescue operations in U.S. military history. For the 59th season premiere of 60 MINUTES, correspondent Norah O'Donnell interviews the weapon systems officer who spent two days alone, injured, vulnerable to capture, and with the enemy closing in on the ground in Iran. In his first public account of what happened, the colonel describes surviving a harrowing ejection, how he evaded Iranian forces, and what he said to his rescuers when they arrived.

Watch a preview

O’Donnell also spoke with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and head of U.S. Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, who is the operational commander of the war with Iran as 60 MINUTES tells the story of the 50-hour search and rescue operation that was completed on Easter Sunday, April 5th.

TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT

An American officer, call sign Dude Four Four Bravo, somewhere over the mountains of Iran, shot down with a broken parachute

U.S. Air Force officer: Hit the ground going somewhere between 70 and 100 miles an hour

Wounded, alone, the enemy closing in. 50 hours to get him out.

Norah O’Donnell: Did you ever have any doubt that the U.S. military was coming for you?

Dude Four Four Bravo for the first time, 60 MINUTES, Sunday

MUST CREDIT “60 MINUTES”

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Press Contact:

CBS News Communications

Natalie Pahz

pahzn@cbs.com