The US military has identified the six crew members killed when a KC-135 Stratotanker refuelling aircraft crashed in western Iraq on Thursday.
The deceased are John Klinner, 33, of Alabama; Ariana Savino, 31, of Washington; Ashley Pruitt, 34, of Kentucky; Seth Koval, 38, of Indiana; Curtis Angst, 30, of Ohio; and Tyler Simmons, 28, of Ohio. The first three were active-duty Air Force personnel; the latter three served in the National Guard.
The crash occurred over friendly airspace near Turaibil, on the Iraqi-Jordanian border, during a combat mission linked to ongoing US operations against Iran. The Pentagon confirmed neither hostile nor friendly fire caused the incident. US officials suggest a possible midair collision, though the investigation is ongoing.
The aircraft was one of two involved in the mission; the second landed safely. Pro-Iranian militias operate in the region, and an Iranian allied group claimed responsibility for downing the plane via missile attack-claims not corroborated by US assessments.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the fallen airmen "American heroes." The crash brings total US military deaths in recent Middle East operations to 13, including six in Kuwait and one in Saudi Arabia since late February.
The war began with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. At least four US aircraft have now been lost. The KC-135, built by Boeing in the 1950s and 1960s, remains critical to extending combat missions through aerial refuelling.
