BLOODIED US AIRMAN SURVIVES HARROWING 36-HOUR MOUNTAIN ESCAPE WHILE EVADING IRANIAN BOUNTY HUNTERS WITH ONE FINAL DESPERATE ACT Battered, bleeding, and clutching a jagged mountainside, a US airman transformed a catastrophic crash into a legendary feat of survival against impossible odds. After his aircraft went down, the airman managed to scale a treacherous peak and vanish into a narrow rock crevice just as Iranian bounty hunters began scouring the terrain below. For 36 agonizing hours, he remained motionless in the freezing shadows, listening to the footsteps of his pursuers as they closed in. The tension reached a breaking point when, cornered and exhausted, he performed one high-stakes tactical maneuver that bypassed their perimeter and allowed him to signal for rescue. This breathtaking display of courage under fire has left military officials stunned by his sheer will to survive.

How seriously wounded US airman climbed mountain, hid in crevice and dodged Iranian bounty-hunters for 36 hours

Despite his injuries, the weapons officer was able to climb more than 1.3 miles and avoid detection from blood-thirsty nearby Iranian fighters spurred by the chance to capture an American soldier and the $60,000 bounty placed on his head, the New York Times reported.

“Thousands of these savages were hunting him down,” President Trump told Axios of the harrowing situation.

The officer was armed with only a handgun as he awaited rescue, which occurred partly thanks to the emergency beacon he sent out from a crevice along a mountain early Sunday local time, CBS News reported.