The United States Central Command (Centcom) has announced that four crew members in a U.S. military refuelling aircraft died following an air mishap on Thursday.
In a Facebook update on Friday, the command said the incident occurred “in friendly airspace” at about 2:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) in western Iraq.
The command stated that the incident involved two aircraft: a U.S. Air Force KC-135 that lost control and a U.S. Navy F/A-18F that landed safely.
“At approximately 2:00 p.m. ET on March 12, a U.S. KC-135 refuelling aircraft went down in western Iraq. Four of six crew members on board the aircraft have been confirmed deceased as rescue efforts continue,” the command said.
Stating that efforts were underway to determine the cause of the incident, Centcom clarified that the incident was neither a targeted nor a mistaken attack.
It stated that the identities of the victims would be made public 24 hours after their next of kin had been duly notified.