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U.S. Air Force KC-135.
A U.S. Air Force Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker crashed March 12 in Iraq as part of the ongoing conflict in Iran, with one other aircraft involved in the incident.
U.S. Central Command in a statement said the refueling tanker was lost in friendly airspace as part of Operation Epic Fury with rescue efforts ongoing. The incident was not related to hostile fire or friendly fire.
The other undisclosed aircraft was able to land safely. It is not clear if there were casualties. The Times of Israel reported the other aircraft was another KC-135 and it landed at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.
The incident would mark the fourth American aircraft lost as part of the ongoing operation, after a Kuwaiti Air Force F/A-18 shot down three U.S. Air Force F-15Es in the early stages of the conflict.
It marks the first loss of a KC-135 since the crash of a Fairchild AFB, Washington-based tanker in Kyrgyzstan as part of the war in Afghanistan. The crash, attributed to a flight control malfunction, killed all three crewmembers on board the tanker.
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