Posted on 03/13/2026 7:06:16 AM PDT by Alas Babylon!
Four U.S. service members were killed when a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq Thursday afternoon after a mid-air incident with a second aircraft, officials confirmed.
A U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft went down in western Iraq around 2 p.m. ET, U.S. Central Command confirmed early Friday. Four of the six crew members aboard the aircraft have been confirmed dead as rescue efforts continue.
The other aircraft involved in the incident landed safely, CENTCOM said. Officials said the loss of the aircraft was not the result of hostile fire or friendly fire.
The identities of the service members are being withheld pending notification of next of kin and will be released 24 hours after those notifications are complete.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Yes, sir!
It is expected that the Democrat media and the never-Trump media will be all in on "body count" time.
Of course, so easily forgetting the four who lost their lives in a NATO exercise in Lithuania.
I often wondered how those fuel connections are made without locking the 2 planes together putting them both in jeopardy. In this case there musta been a collision mid-air.
You are the only person I have had the privilege of chatting with that I have known to have done that.
My wife and I have always been amazed with in-air refueling.
Thank you for your service, sir.
Mid-air fueling is amazing, as well as amazingly dangerous. God bless our pilots!
Now at all 6 souls confirmed dead.(NewaMax)
Nothing but the best for our boys in green!
“Hand salute to these brave crew members. I have frequently traveled in USAF KC-135s. They’re noisy, cold as ice on the deck and hot as blazes up top from the heaters and smelled like kerosene
>>>>>>>>>>>
Let’s pray for those great Americans who fought for their country and the West’s right to exist free from Islamic terror.
Prayers for families, for sure.
Ever get to snooze in the boom operator’s ‘recliner?’
Yeah only Daniel could have walked out of that. RIP.
I flew on a KC-135 from Maine to Germany on a REFORGER mission in 1986. We refueled in the Azore Islands (can’t remember which one) which was BEAUTIFUL!
Your description is spot on. It was SLIGHTLY unnerving to be in our web seats with a friggin’ TANK strapped down right next to you!
I took a handful of Dramamine and tried my best to sleep through it all. ;)
Scratch that. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
My Dad (USAF) introduced me, at a very young age, to the saying “nothing is too good for the troops”. It took me a little time to catch on to the double entendre ...
Saw a pic of the one that landed. A piece of the tail was missing. Hate it happened, but I can’t help but wonder how they came close enough to collide.
Hand salute. RIP servicemen and women.
As far as I am concerned, the only flight evolution more dangerous than air to air refueling at night is a night carrier landing.
They fly over here in Indiana all the time.
Do these aircraft refuel each other? It sounds like 2 tankers collided but I might have misunderstood.
I met two KC-135 crew members once while on vacation in Hawaii. They introduced themselves as “Gas Passers”.
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