Iran war: US military identifies six personnel killed in KC-135 Stratotanker crash in Iraq

The Pentagon on Saturday (Mar 14) named the six US crew members killed in a refuelling aircraft crash in western Iraq earlier this week. The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker went down on Thursday (Mar 12) near the town of Turaibil along the Iraqi-Jordanian border. The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement that the crash was not caused by hostile fire or friendly fire. Iran, however, claims that its allied forces downed the aircraft, killing all crew aboard. Since the beginning of the Iran war, at least 13 US troops have been killed. Another plane that was part of the operation had landed safely.

The sex members who were killed in the crash were: John Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Alabama; Ariana Savino, 31, of Covington, Washington; Ashley Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Kentucky; Seth Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Indiana; Curtis Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; and Tyler Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio.

While the first three were members of the US Air Force, the latter were stationed with the US Air National Guard.

The US CENTCOM earlier said that the “loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire”. However, the crash remains under investigation, according to Pentagon officials.

The KC-135 crash is at least the fourth US military aircraft that has crashed during the war. Before this, three F-15s were shot down by friendly fire over Kuwait.

On February 28, the US and Israeli military launched strikes on Iran, killing Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and several other top Iranian officials. The operation was named ‘Epic Fury’ by the US and ‘Lion’s Roar’ by Israel. The attacks came amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran and ongoing talks over Iran’s nuclear program. In retaliation, Iran launched attacks on Israel and US military bases in the region, including in Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Azerbaijan.

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing conflicts in West Asia involving Israel, Iran, the US, Gulf nations and non-state actors like Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, Islamic State, and others. Claims and counterclaims, disinformation and misinformation are being made online and offline. Given this context, WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, social media posts, photos and videos.

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing conflicts in West Asia involving Israel, Iran, the US, Gulf nations and non-state actors like Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, Islamic State, and others. Claims and counterclaims, disinformation and misinformation are being made online and offline. Given this context, WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, social media posts, photos and videos.