U.S. KC-135 Stratotanker Lost Over Western Iraq During Operation Epic Fury; All Six Crew Confirmed Dead
CENTCOM’s initial statement confirmed two aircraft were involved: one crashed, and the second landed safely.
MIDDLE EAST — A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq on March 12, killing all six crew members aboard. U.S. Central Command confirmed the loss occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury and stated the incident was “not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”
The Incident
At approximately 2:00 PM Eastern Time on March 12, a KC-135 Stratotanker went down near Turaibil in western Iraq, close to the Iraqi-Jordanian border. CENTCOM’s initial statement confirmed two aircraft were involved: one crashed, and the second landed safely.
CENTCOM initially confirmed four of six crew members deceased on March 13, with rescue efforts continuing for the remaining two. A subsequent update confirmed all six crew members were dead.
The identities of the service members are being withheld pending the standard 24-hour next-of-kin notification period.
The Second Aircraft
The surviving KC-135, identified through flight tracking data as a KC-135R bearing serial number 63-8017, declared an in-flight emergency and landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel on the evening of March 12. Photographs circulated on social media showed the aircraft missing a significant portion of its vertical stabilizer.
The aircraft is assigned to the 314th Air Refueling Squadron, 940th Air Refueling Wing, an Air Force Reserve Command unit based at Beale Air Force Base, California. It has not been confirmed whether the crashed aircraft belonged to the same unit.
