Captured in Gulf War: Former British pilot John Peters reveals what it’s like to be shot down

As the hunt continues for the missing US airman after a fighter jet was brought down over Iran, a former RAF pilot who lived through a similar nightmare has offered a chilling insight into what those first moments on the ground feel like. John Peters, who was captured during the 1991 Gulf War after ejecting over enemy territory, says the ordeal quickly becomes “a game of cat and mouse.”

His account brings a deeply human perspective to the high-stakes military search now unfolding.

With one crew member rescued and another still missing, his words underscore the intense pressure facing both the airman and the rescue teams, as per a report by The Daily Mail.


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Former RAF pilot John Peters has offered a stark and deeply personal account of what it feels like to be shot down in enemy territory, as US forces race to locate a missing airman after a fighter jet was downed over Iran.

Peters, who was captured during the Gulf War in 1991 after his aircraft was hit, said the transition from the cockpit to hostile ground is almost impossible to prepare for emotionally, even with years of training.

Speaking about the current situation, he said it is now “a game of cat and mouse” as American rescue teams attempt to reach the missing crew member before Iranian forces do.

What happens in the moment a jet is shot down?

Recalling the moment his own aircraft was struck, Peters described how quickly everything changed.

"It is defined by the moment – when we got hit by the missile, the aircraft rotated a couple of times and we were only 50-60 feet above the ground doing about 500 or 600 knots at the time and then you have to deal with the anti-aircraft guns."

He said the aircraft was suddenly engulfed in flames.

"Basically, it is a trained response and you are trying to solve problems but I couldn’t see the back of the aircraft."

"It was completely orange flame and was about a 15 feet doughnut around my plane – I couldn’t see the aircraft’s right hand wing - then you click into a trained response and I know this sounds boring but this is why we are trained so much so you realise that you now have to eject because this aircraft is going to disintegrate around us so you then go through the checks to eject and that is when you eject. That is the first time you will have done it because you never eject in practice but you have complete faith that you pull that handle and you will be out of the aircraft and that is how it is."

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Despite the chaos, Peters said military training takes over.

“Then you click into a trained response and I know this sounds boring but this is why we are trained so much so you realise that you now have to eject because this aircraft is going to disintegrate around us.”

He added that ejecting is something pilots never truly practice in real life, but they trust the system completely.

“That is the first time you will have done it because you never eject in practice but you have complete faith that you pull that handle and you will be out of the aircraft.”

What is the missing US airman likely facing now?

Peters said the most shocking part is what comes immediately after landing.

"You land in enemy territory. You have just gone through an extreme event where you’ve been shot out of the sky and you have just ejected."

He explained that after ejecting at just 320 feet, he was only under the parachute for around ten seconds. "I had ejected at 320 feet so I was only on my parachute for ten seconds. You are then on the ground. We had gone from a position of power in the air – involved in this huge air power - like this poor American crew would have done - to literally just John and I being two little pink bodies in the desert.:

"The transition is just shocking. The first thing we did was to giggle which was really pathetic actually thinking ‘what the hell do we do now?’.’

That dramatic shift, he said, is mentally overwhelming.

Still, he believes the missing US airman will now be relying completely on training.

“You then literally because of your training put the next cassette in as it were and think we now need to evade and that is exactly what that American crew will be doing now.”

According to Peters, the individual will be focused on survival, evasion and waiting for extraction.

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Why did Peters call it a ‘game of cat and mouse’?

John Peters stressed that the search operation is now a race between two sides, speaking on Sky News.

“The US has got to find their colleague and they will have combat search and rescue squadrons who will do that and plan how to get that person out as."

At the same time, he warned that Iranian forces are likely flooding the area.

“As you can imagine - the Iranians will be saturating the area as best they can because this is now a political game because that gives them huge leverage.”

He said this is where the phrase “game of cat and mouse” truly applies.

For the Americans, recovering a downed crew member is both a military and political priority. For Iran, capturing that person alive could create enormous leverage. Peters knows exactly how quickly such a situation can deteriorate. He recalled how he and fellow airman John Nichol spent around two hours on the ground before Iraqi soldiers found them.

"We were on the ground for about two hours when about 20 Iraqi soldiers found us and they are just spread out in front of you with about 20 Kalashnikov machine guns and we have two little pistols."

What followed was terrifying. "We were lying in the sand with nothing to hide behind and the very first bullet landed just inches from my head and then that was followed up by hundreds of bullets as we were then basically buried in the sand by machine gun fire and eventually they got to us and we were trying to give ourselves up but they were scared of us as well – and they beat us up.” Eventually, they were captured and beaten.

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What does this mean for the missing airman’s family?

Peters also reflected on the emotional toll such incidents take on families.

“My thoughts are now with the individual and the squadron members because it certainly affects your friends within the air force and their families. As a prisoner of war you are then just playing with fate.”

He remembered leaving behind his wife and two young children when he went to war.

“For me, I had Helen, my wife, and our two children – at the time two and my daughter was six weeks old when I went to war because you are that age when you are aircrew."

While he said he personally did not suffer lasting trauma from his prisoner-of-war experience, his warning about war remained powerful.

"War is not to be entered lightly and individuals suffer for it and countries suffer for it."

As the search for the missing US airman continues in Iran, Peters’ words offer a rare glimpse into the terrifying reality of being alone behind enemy lines, where every second becomes a fight between training, instinct and fate.

FAQs

What did John Peters compare the current search to?

He described it as “a game of cat and mouse” between rescue teams and Iranian forces.

Was John Peters captured after being shot down?

Yes, he was captured during the 1991 Gulf War and held for seven weeks.