All six crew members of a KC-135 refueling plane that crashed whereas supporting operations in opposition to Iran are useless, the U.S. army stated Friday.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Center East, stated the crash in western Iraq on Thursday adopted an unspecified incident involving two plane in “friendly airspace” and that the opposite airplane landed safely.
The crash brings the U.S. demise toll in Operation Epic Fury to at the least 13 service members, with the seven others killed in fight. About 140 U.S. service members have been injured, together with eight severely, the Pentagon stated earlier this week.
The KC-135 has been in service for greater than 60 years and has been concerned in a number of deadly accidents, most not too long ago in 2013. Including to considerations about their reliability, the plane don’t at all times carry parachutes.
Right here’s what is thought thus far concerning the tanker, which is the fourth U.S. army plane publicly acknowledged to have crashed for the reason that warfare in opposition to Iran started on Feb. 28:
Reason for crash not instantly recognized
U.S. Central Command stated the circumstances of the crash are underneath investigation however that the lack of the plane was “not due to hostile or friendly fire.”
A U.S. official, who spoke on situation of anonymity to debate the growing state of affairs, stated the opposite airplane concerned was additionally a KC-135. Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., wrote on X that the opposite airplane landed safely in Israel.
Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Employees, instructed reporters on the Pentagon on Friday morning that the crash occurred “over friendly territory in western Iraq, while the crew was on a combat mission” and reiterated that hostile or pleasant hearth was not the trigger.
“War is hell. War is chaos,” Hegseth stated. “And as we saw yesterday with the tragic crash of our KC-135 tanker, bad things can happen. American heroes, all of them.”
Hegseth and Caine spoke to reporters earlier than the deaths of the six crew member had been made public.
Yang Uk, a safety skilled at South Korea’s Asan Institute for Coverage Research, stated it might be uncommon for a refueling tanker to be downed by enemy hearth as a result of such operations are normally carried out within the rear of fight zones.
Final week, three U.S. F-15E fighter jets had been mistakenly downed by pleasant Kuwaiti hearth. All six crew members ejected safely.
The KC-135 is a long-serving tanker airplane
The KC-135 Stratotanker is a U.S. Air Power plane used to refuel different planes in midair, permitting them to journey longer distances and preserve operations longer with out touchdown. The airplane can be used to move wounded personnel throughout medical evacuations or conduct surveillance missions, in response to army specialists.
“The last of these planes were produced in the 1960s,” Yang stated.
Based mostly on the identical design because the Boeing 707 passenger airplane, the KC-135 is about to be progressively phased out as extra of the next-generation KC-46A Pegasus tankers enter service.
In line with the Congressional Analysis Service, the Air Power final yr had 376 KC-135s, together with 151 on energetic obligation, 163 within the Air Nationwide Guard and 62 within the Air Power Reserve.
A primary KC-135 crew consists of three individuals: a pilot, co-pilot and growth operator. Nurses and medical technicians are added in aeromedical evacuation missions.
Refueling sometimes occurs behind the airplane, the place the growth operator is situated. A gasoline growth is lowered to attach with fighters, bombers or different plane. On most of the planes, the growth operator works mendacity face down whereas looking of a window on the underside of the airplane.
Some KC-135s can even refuel planes from pods on their wings. The tankers have room to hold cargo or passengers if wanted.
Refueling tankers might play an more and more essential function if the Iran warfare drags on, as U.S. plane could have to fly longer missions to pursue Iranian forces retreating deeper into the nation, stated Yang.
A query about parachutes
KC-135s have been concerned in a number of deadly accidents. The latest occurred on Might 3, 2013, when one crashed after takeoff south of Chaldovar, Kyrgyzstan, whereas supporting the warfare in Afghanistan.
In that crash, the crew skilled issues with the airplane’s rudder, in response to a U.S. Air Power investigation. Whereas the crew struggled to stabilize the airplane, the tail part broke away and the airplane exploded midair, killing all three onboard.
Probably the most critical mid-air collision involving the airplane occurred in 1966, when a B-52 bomber carrying nuclear bombs struck a tanker close to Palomares, Spain.
The accident triggered the tanker to crash, killing 4 onboard. The catastrophe led to an intensive decontamination effort to wash up nuclear materials dispersed when typical explosives within the hydrogen bombs detonated after hitting the bottom.
The airplane has security report total, is well-maintained and has been up to date usually with new gear, stated Alan Diehl, a former investigator for the Air Power Security Heart who examined mishaps that concerned KC-135s.
However Diehl stated an essential query is whether or not this KC-135 was carrying any parachutes. The one which crashed in Kyrgyzstan was not, in response to the investigation.
Diehl stated the reasoning for not at all times requiring parachutes, at the least within the Eighties and Nineties, included the expense of sustaining them and coaching to make use of them. He stated Okay-135s are designed with an escape hatch on the flight deck and a spoiler to assist airmen bounce away from the fuselage.
Diehl pressured that it’s unclear whether or not parachutes would have helped the crew over Iraq. However he stated the second airplane touchdown security suggests the collision could not have been catastrophic.
When requested if the airplane that crashed had parachutes, the army would say solely that the reason for the incident was nonetheless underneath investigation.
As for why the KC-135 that crashed had six individuals on board, Diehl stated some might have been back-up crew, on condition that the plane can keep within the air for a lot of hours.
