A U.S. military aircraft crashed in western Iraq killing all six of its crew members. The KC-135 refueling plane was supporting U.S. efforts in Iran.
U.S. Central Command said Thursday the incident occurred in “friendly airspace” involving two aircrafts. Officials said the second plane, also a KC-135, landed safely. The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Yechiel Leiter, confirmed the second plane landed safely in Israel on X Thursday.
The incident was not due to hostile or friendly fire according to Central Command. The exact details of the crash are unknown at this time except the confirmed deaths of the six crew members. Originally, Central Command only confirmed four of the six crew members dead, but updated the report Friday on X to confirm the entire crew died in the crash. Identities of the deceased service members will be withheld for 24 hours after next of kin is informed.
All Crew Members of U.S. KC-135 Loss in Iraq Confirmed Deceased
TAMPA, Fla. – All six crew members aboard a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft that went down in western Iraq are now confirmed deceased. The aircraft was lost while flying over friendly airspace March 12 during…
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 13, 2026
KC-135s are some of the oldest model tankers in use by the military and are used to refuel other aircrafts midair. It’s based on the same design as the passenger plane Boeing 707 and has been in use since the 1960s. A newer tanker, the KC-46A, is planned to phase out the older models but the transition has not been as fast as expected.
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This is the fourth U.S. manned aircraft taken down since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury — with none being hostile fire from Iran. Three Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighters were mistakenly shot down by a Kuwait F/A-18 aircraft on March 1. All six service members involved in that incident safely ejected.
As of Friday, the death toll in the Iran war has killed at least 1,348 civilians in Iran, more than 600 killed in Lebanon, 15 killed in Israel and dozens killed in other Gulf countries. The plane crash brings the total number of killed American soldiers to 13.
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