All six crew members aboard the U.S. KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft that went down in western Iraq on Thursday have been confirmed dead, U.S. Central Command officials have said.
The disaster brings the total number of U.S. service members killed in the Iran conflict so far to 13.
Rescue efforts are continuing and the circumstances of the incident are under investigation, the officials said, although the aircraft’s loss was not due to either hostile or friendly fire.
Officials believe a mid-air collision may have caused the crash,The New York Times reports.
In a press conference hours after the crash, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refered to the victims as “heroes” and said they would be “greeted” at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware when their bodies were returned to home soil.
At the same briefing, Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also paid tribute to those who were killed.
The identities of the deceased are currently being withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been informed.
It was earlier reported that the plane went down following an “incident” involving another U.S. plane at approximately 2 p.m. ET Thursday.
The first plane crashed near Turaibil, a largely isolated desert, on the Iraqi-Jordanian border, an Iraqi intelligence source told CBS News.
The second safely executed an emergency landing at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv in Israel, Centcom said.
“The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury,” it said in its earlier statement, referring to the joint U.S.-Israeli airstrike campaign against Iran that began on February 28.
Citing people familiar with the situation, The Washington Post reported that the second plane was also a KC-135.
The Boeing planes involved are capable of refuelling other aircraft in mid-air and have been used extensively in U.S. military operations, notably during the first Gulf War, aiding in extending the range of fighter jets and bombers.
KC-135s, which were first built for the military in the 1950s, typically have a crew consisting of at least a pilot, co-pilot and a boom operator, who is responsible for controlling its refuelling arm.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of armed factions backed by Iran, has said that it was responsible for downing the aircraft.
The group said in a statement it had shot down the aircraft “in defence of our country’s sovereignty and airspace”.
Both President Donald Trump and Hegseth have warned that American deaths in the campaign are inevitable, with the president describing the prospect in a social media video as “the way it is,” drawing fresh criticism.
On Saturday, Trump observed the dignified transfer of the first six soldiers killed at the Dover base, along with Vice President JD Vance, First Lady Melania Trump, and members of his cabinet.
Hegseth told 60 Minutes last weekend: “Things like this don’t happen without casualties. There will be more casualties.
“And no one is – I mean, especially our generation knows what it’s like to see Americans come home in caskets… But that doesn’t weaken us one bit. It stiffens our spine and our resolve to say this is a fight we will finish.”
Earlier in the conflict, three American F-15s were shot down in “an apparent friendly fire incident” over Kuwait, officials said, although, in that instance, all six crew members aboard were able to safely eject.
Pope Leo takes a veiled swipe at Trump over Iran war: ‘Go to confession’
Pete Hegseth claims Iran’s leaders are ‘rats’ in hiding
Iran-US war live: No survivors aboard US military plane which crashed in Iraq
Iran war increases need for good relations between UK and Ireland, says Starmer
Officials trying to discredit links between general’s disappearance and his UFO work
Lauren Boebert promotes her work with stock video of area outside her district
