All six crew members of an American Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker that went down in Iraq on Thursday have died, according to the United States Central Command, in the first casualties of the United States Air Force in Operation Epic Fury, bringing the total number of U.S. casualties to 13.
BREAKING: All six crew members have been killed in the crash of a refuelling plane in Iraq, the US Central Command has said.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 13, 2026
It had previously been announced that four of the six members died https://t.co/T6ZSl1x4sa
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/KwOYUOORz0
“War is hell. War is chaos. And as we saw yesterday with the tragic crash of our KC-135 tanker, bad things can happen,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement. “We will greet those heroes at Dover. And their sacrifice will only recommit us to the resolve of this mission.”
Two aircraft were involved in the incident, although the second was able to land safely in Tel Aviv, suggesting a collision may have caused the crash.
That’s about the top third of the tail gone. A little lower & they would have lost the rudder.
— KC-10 Driver ✈️ 👨✈️ B-737 Wrangler (@MCCCANM) March 13, 2026
It was not an Air Refueling mishap. It was not hostile or friendly fire…this is not shrapnel damage.
From what I understand, it was a near head-on mid air collision.
Allegedly, a… https://t.co/DozLxR4RKO
"U.S. Central Command is aware of the loss of a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft," CENTCOM said in a statement. "The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing. Two aircraft were involved in the incident. One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely. This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire."
All Crew Members of U.S. KC-135 Loss in Iraq Confirmed Deceased
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 13, 2026
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…
Search and rescue operations by a rapid-response Marine unit are still ongoing.
