A faulty mechanism in an F-16 almost caused its pilot to eject over ISIS-controlled land last year, surely promising his capture and/or death.

Thankfully, however, a shrewd, crack crew of United States Air Force airmen had his back, and were there to save him from a grisly demise, as they flew aboard a big refueling aircraft nearby.

This from CNN:

The KC-135 Stratotanker was linked up with a group of A-10 Thunderbolt IIs in support of the U.S.-led coalition’s air campaign against ISIS when it was approached by the F-16, the Air Force said on Thursday.

The first sign of trouble occurred when the F-16 attempted to re-fuel but was forced to disconnect from the KC-135 after taking in only 500 pounds of fuel — an amount that fell significantly short of the 2,500 pounds that the tanker expected to off-load.

After a second failed re-fueling attempt, the F-16 pilot ran through his checklist and alerted the tanker crew that he was experiencing a fuel system emergency.

“Over 80% of his total fuel capability was trapped and unusable,” a malfunction that could have forced the pilot to eject as his aircraft could only use up to 15 minutes of fuel at a time, the Air Force said in a press release.

Instead of leaving the pilot to fend for himself, the tanker crew decided to diverge from its area of responsibility, and safely escorted the F-16 to its base while refueling every 15 minutes on the way to allied airspace.

It’s still unclear what country the pilot was from, and whether or not he was American.

The U.S. military officials also did not disclose where the rescue took place and what ISIS-controlled land the jet was flying directly over when the mechanical problem was realized.