A video appears to show a U.S. F-15 spinning toward the ground in flames in the Middle East, as Kuwait’s Ministry of Defense says multiple U.S. military aircraft crashed.
Videos emerged online in the morning of Mar. 2, 2026, show what has been described as a U.S. Air Force F-15 being hit by surface to air fire, immediately catching fire and spinning out of control. The crew is seen ejecting, before the aircraft continues to spin towards the ground and crashes.
WATCH: Fighter jet crashes in Kuwait pic.twitter.com/Uhe6qTAdkd
— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) March 2, 2026
Photos then showed at least three different crew members safely on the ground, surrounded by reportedly Kuwaiti locals. However, the U.S. Air Force is currently employing the F-15E Strike Eagle in the region, which is a twin-seat aircraft.
Both the Pilot and Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) onboard the U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle that crashed this morning over Kuwait due to a “friendly fire” incident, appear to have survived, being found by locals and transferred to local authorities in Kuwait. pic.twitter.com/HyxpeI0QUL
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 2, 2026
pilots pic.twitter.com/wF9aoCs4rK
— C4H10FO2P ☠️ (@markito0171) March 2, 2026
Other regional partners operate the F-15 too, although their participation in the operations against Iran has not been reported. Among these operators are Saudi Arabia, with both single- and twin-seat F-15s, and Qatar, with twin-seats.
Another angle of this morning’s crash of an apparent shot down F-15 by “friendly fire” over Kuwait. pic.twitter.com/HCTXwW9vlq
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 2, 2026
According to some comments, the helmet of one of the crew members matches the one shown in a official photo of the 335th Fighter Squadron’s F-15Es out of Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina. This would further identify the aircraft and crews as belonging to the U.S. Air Force.
Impressive open-source sleuthing here. A partial helmet visible in an alleged photo of a downed F-15 pilot in Kuwait has been traced to the USAF 335th Fighter Squadron by @blocksixtynine. https://t.co/Glggzxq4rv pic.twitter.com/Qgyv7P92yO
— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) March 2, 2026
Claims online are attributing the incident to a possible friendly-fire, with some saying that a second F-15 might have been shot down. That would explain the presence of more than two crew members on the ground.
Indeed, the official X profile of the Kuwaiti Army published a post saying that “the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense stated that several US warplanes crashed this morning, confirming that all crew members survived.” According to the spokesperson, the crews are in stable condition and have been transported to the hospital for medical evaluation and treatment.
بيان رقم 7
صرّح الناطق الرسمي باسم وزارة الدفاع بأنه في صباح هذا اليوم سقطت عدد من الطائرات الحربية الأمريكية، مؤكداً نجاة أطقمها بالكامل.
وأوضح أن الجهات المختصة باشرت فوراً إجراءات البحث والإنقاذ، حيث تم إخلاء الأطقم ونقلهم إلى المستشفى للاطمئنان على حالتهم الصحية وتقديم… pic.twitter.com/HYX3LGqEX1
— KUWAIT ARMY – الجيش الكويتي (@KuwaitArmyGHQ) March 2, 2026
The post also stated that an investigation is in progress. CENTCOM has yet to confirm the incident, although the Kuwaiti MoD says it is coordinating with the U.S. to quickly return the crews to their home bases.
What happened?
The aircraft can be seen flying straight and level, before an explosion takes place. At this time, it is not possible to verify what exactly happened. Some claims mention the use of Short-Range Air Defense (SHORAD) systems with infrared-guided missiles.
This could be one of the many possible explanations. The F-15E is not equipped with Missile Warning Sensors (MWS) for infrared-guided missiles, thus the crew would not get a warning if one was flying towards them, compared to radar-guided missiles.
Also, the aircraft was reportedly flying over friendly territory in Kuwait, where the crew would not necessarily expect surface-to-air threat against them. Considering the aircraft was not flying at high altitude and it was not equipped with external fuel tanks, it is likely the F-15 was flying as part of the defensive effort against Iranian missiles and drones, which previously struck also Kuwait.
As we mentioned in our previous reporting, Iran is continuing to target neighboring countries which host U.S. bases, including Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar and the UAE. Hundreds on missiles and drones have been launched, with many intercepted by both aircraft and ground-based air defenses.
This is a developing story, it will be updated as new details emerge.
