BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: The Pentagon Wednesday released images of a United States F-16 fighter being shot down over Yugoslavia last year, along with the successful mission to rescue the pilot. Our military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre has more.</s>JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It was about a year ago, May 2, 1999, that a U.S. F-16 pilot was shot down over Serbia. The Air Force has just now released cockpit tapes of the shoot-down and the dramatic rescue. We've edited the tape for time reasons, so the excerpt you're about to hear actually takes place over several minutes. The remarkable think about the voice transmissions is how calm the pilot is even though he's unable to restart the plane's single engine after it was disabled by shrapnel from a surface-to-air missile, and he will have to eject over enemy territory 25 miles southwest of Belgrade.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to shut down the engine, I'm going to try to restart. It's definitely quit. I'm a glider, boys. I have a AAA off my right 3 o'clock. You guys got a lock on me? I'm out.</s>MCINTYRE: He's ejected. Now it's about an hour and a half later. Three rescue helicopters are looking for the pilot based on his last known location. You can hear the elation as they find him and pick him up while taking fire from the ground.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, guys, we'll take you home.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have the objective?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Affirmative.</s>MCINTYRE: The pilot has asked not to be identified. The Air Force says he was back in the cockpit flying missions over Yugoslavia two days later. NATO lost only two planes and no pilots in this 78- day war. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, live at the Pentagon.
Air Force Releases Cockpit Tapes of F-16 Pilot Shot Down Over Yugoslavia During Kosovo War