From the Liveblog of
Thursday, March 12, 2026
US military says refueling plane crashed in Iraq due to apparent accident, rescue efforts ongoing
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The US Central Command says a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq in an apparent accident involving another tanker.
“The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing. Two aircraft were involved in the incident. One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely,” CENTCOM says in a statement.
CENTCOM says the incident was “not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”
It adds that more information will be made available “as the situation develops.”
The second tanker involved in the incident landed at Ben Gurion Airport earlier this evening. The aircraft had sent a “squawk code” of 7700, an international emergency signal, according to flight tracking data.
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