New Delhi, Sept. 14 -- For nearly two days, injured and alone in hostile territory, a US Air Force colonel hid in the mountains of Iran as enemy forces closed in around him. With a damaged parachute, a broken back, arm and shoulder injuries, and no certainty that help would arrive, the officer spent almost 50 hours waiting to be rescued after his fighter jet was shot down.

The dramatic account of his survival and eventual rescue has now been detailed by CBS News' "60 Minutes", which spoke to the officer in his first public account of the incident.

The officer, known publicly only by his mission call sign "Bravo" because of security concerns, was the weapons-systems officer aboard a two-seat F-15E fighter jet.

The aircraft, operating un...