The Department of War (DoW) confirmed four crew members were killed on Thursday when an Air Force refueling tanker went down over Iraq.
United States Central Command (CENTCOM) acknowledged that the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, carrying six service members, went down over western Iraq while noting that a second aircraft landed safely, CENTCOM said in a statement released Friday. The incident is under investigation, while two more servicemembers are still missing.
“At approximately 2 pm ET on March 12, a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft went down in western Iraq,” CENTCOM said. “Four of six crew members on board the aircraft have been confirmed deceased as rescue efforts continue. The circumstances of the incident are under investigation. However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”
The DoW did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Six American servicemembers were killed in an Iranian attack on an operations center in Kuwait, a seventh died of wounds sustained in an Iranian attack on an American base in Saudi Arabia and another American servicemember died from a medical incident.
The KC-135 first entered service with the United States Air Force in 1956, according to an Air Force fact sheet. It is capable of refueling aircraft either by using a “boom” that plugs into the receiving aircraft or by using a “probe and drogue” system.
Normally, a KC-135 carries a crew of three (pilot, co-pilot, and boom operator). The Pentagon did not explain why there were extra crew members on board in their statement confirming the casualties.
President Donald Trump has faced heightened scrutiny over his decision to launch strikes against Iran, including a bomb that hit an elementary school and killed 175 people. The president has reiterated that the conflict would end “soon,” but has not given a definitive timeline.
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