By Ian Werther in News — 14 Mar 2026

US KC-135 Tanker Crashes in Western Iraq; Four of Six Crewmembers Dead

A U.S. KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq on the 10th, during operations against Iran conducted by the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group. U.S. Central Command said the crash resulted from a mid-air collision with another tanker.

CENTCOM confirmed on X on local time the 12th that a KC-135 was lost. Four of the six crew members were killed, and rescue operations were under way for the remaining personnel.

Iraq (Oct. 25, 2005) - A U.S. Marine Corps CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter, assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron Four Six Six (HMH-466), externally lifts a UH-1N Huey over Iraq. The CH-53 picked-up the UH-1N Huey from Al Qaim, Iraq and will fly it to Al Asad, Iraq for repairs. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. James P. Aguilar (RELEASED) — Representative image for context; not directly related to the specific event in this article. License: Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Officials said there was no indication the incident stemmed from enemy action or miscalculation, and they pledged to release additional details as the situation developed.

One of the other aircraft involved in the incident made an emergency landing at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, the country’s main international gateway near Tel Aviv.

A Wisconsin Air National Guard Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker and General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons at the 2022 Milwaukee Air and Water Show along Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (United States). — Representative image for context; not directly related to the specific event in this article. License: CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The crash occurred while the carrier strike group was operating against Iran, illustrating the high-risk, multinational nature of U.S. military activities in the Gulf and surrounding regions.

For U.S. readers, the incident underscores the central role of air-refueling aircraft like the KC-135 in sustaining long-range missions and the potential impact on military readiness and operations in a volatile region.

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