The former Head of the British Army has issued a spine-tingling warning following a "potentially tragic" case of a missing US pilot shot down over southern Iran.
Currently, US Special Forces rescue teams are engaged in a "harrowing and dangerous" search for the airman across the region.
Elite Air Force pararescue units scrambled to launch a rescue mission after a F-15E fighter jet was targeted by the Islamic Republic on Friday afternoon.
The warplane’s pilot was successfully extracted by US personnel later that day - but the search for the weapon systems officer continues deep within hostile airspace.
Weighing in on the matter, the ex-chief of the Armed Forces assessed the likelihood the missing pilot will be found - although he mentioned his fate could be "tragic".
Asked what the pilot in question might be doing at this very moment, Lord Dannatt said the question remained very much an open one.
He told GB News: "As time goes on, one has to get increasingly concerned that whereas one of the two, presumably they both ejected, one was found quite quickly and rescued by combat search and rescue.
"The other? Well, one has to wonder. Uh, did he die on impact? Did his equipment, which otherwise would have emitted a signal that the rescuers could have found him? Was that destroyed?
"So, is he dead? Is he making his way somehow? And they are combat survival, trained to escape and evade, trying to find his way to friendly territory...
"It's a big story. It's a worrying story. And I think we just have to watch and actually, over this Easter period, hope and pray that there's a good outcome from the Americans' point of view."
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