Hiding alone in a mountain crevice behind enemy lines, the injured American airman knew exactly what to do: survive and evade.

For more than a day, the weapons systems officer whose F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down inside Iran avoided being captured by encroaching Iranian forces. At one point, he scaled the rugged terrain to a ridgeline 7,000 feet above sea level, equipped with little more than a pistol, a communication device and a tracking beacon.

It was into the high mountains that a team of American commandos, accompanied by US aircraft dropping bombs to clear the area, swarmed to locate the officer, bringing him and themselves to safety.

Two US officials described the details of the risky operation afterward.

It involved hundreds of American military and intelligence personnel, including special operations forces who carried out the successful rescue mission, and CIA operatives who mounted a deception campaign beforehand to throw off potential Iranian captors.

And it came with multiple twists, including a pair of damaged US special operations aircraft that the US had to blow up on the ground in Iran during the operation.