[ed. Good point. You'd think he'd be doing the Hero Tour by now. The 110 miles figure doesn't sound plausible, but from Wikipedia:]
The pilot was rescued by U.S. forces seven hours after the crash. The operation involved hundreds of U.S. troops and dozens of aircraft. The weapon systems officer (WSO) escaped in the area of the Zagros Mountains, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), U.S. combat search and rescue personnel, and the local nomadic tribesmen worked to find him. The WSO was recovered by U.S. forces supported by 155 aircraft. A U.S. military official described it as "one of the most challenging and complex [missions] in the history of U.S. special operations."
Iran claimed multiple aircraft shootdowns during the rescue operation. The U.S. claimed there had been a shootdown of one of its A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft, and the intentional destruction of two of its Lockheed MC-130 transport aircraft and four helicopters to avoid capture. Iran later claimed the "operation may have been a deceptive plan to steal enriched uranium" of Iran's nuclear program, and compared the operation to the failed 1980 Operation Eagle Claw, the last publicly acknowledged U.S. military ground operation in Iran. [...]
Iranian and U.S. forces engaged in a race to find the second crew member. U.S. surveillance drones failed to find the airman, and he was "status unknown". The airman hiked a 7,000-foot (2,100 m) ridgeline in the Zagros Mountains foothills and hid in a mountain crevice and restricted the use of his emergency beacon signal so that it would not be picked up by Iran. [...]
Additionally during the search and rescue efforts:
- 2 UH-60 Black Hawks were hit and damaged. An undisclosed number of crew aboard the helicopters were injured.
- 1 A-10 Thunderbolt II shot down.
- 2 MC-130J Hercules intentionally destroyed by U.S. forces after they became stuck to avoid falling into enemy hands.
- 4 MH-6 or AH-6 special operations helicopters destroyed from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). A U.S. official claimed that these too were intentionally destroyed.
