Iraq: US refuelling aircraft crashes; four of six crew members killed
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Four of six crew members onboard the United States Air Force KC-135 midair refuelling aircraft, that crashed in western Iraq on Thursday, have died, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in an X post on Friday.
Efforts to rescue the other two are ongoing, it said, according to media reports.
The KC-135 that went down was the fourth military aircraft the US has lost in the ongoing Iran war that started on February 28—three F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets were shot down by a Kuwaiti F-18 on March 2 in an ‘accident.’
An American official told The Wall Street Journal that the pilot of the F-18 had mistakenly launched three missiles towards the three jets, which went down over Kuwait.
The reasons behind the fresh crash remain “under investigation,” CENTCOM said, as it ruled out hostile or friendly fire as causes. The identities of the deceased soldiers have been withheld for 24 hours after their family have been notified.
The US military confirmed that a KC-135, used to refuel other aircraft midair – had crashed while a second plane (unspecified) involved in the incident landed safely.
Iran state media claimed that a resistance group, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed factions, shot down the plane with a missile.
Washington denied it and said no hostile fire had been reported.
The KC-135, built by Boeing in the 1950s and early 1960s, is a crucial part of the US military’s midair refuelling fleet and plays a key role in long-range operations. In operation for over 60 years, KC-135s usually have a three-person crew – the pilot, the copilot, and a third who operates the boom used to refuel other aircraft, the US Air Force explained.
The US-Israel war on Iran kicked off on February 28 with their joint strikes on Tehran.
Since then, the fighting has spread to other Gulf nations and beyond, with the Iranian regime not only targeting American and Israeli military bases but also civilian and oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other nations, driving fears of a global fuel shortage after Tehran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow maritime passageway through which 20 million barrels of oil pass daily.
