Four crew members have been confirmed dead after a United States military refuelling aircraft crashed in western Iraq, according to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
The incident occurred when the aircraft “went down” in friendly airspace during an operation.
In a statement issued on Friday, CENTCOM confirmed the casualties and said search and rescue efforts were still ongoing.
“Four of six crew members on board the aircraft have been confirmed deceased as rescue efforts continue,” CENTCOM said Friday.
CENTCOM had earlier disclosed that the aircraft involved was a KC-135 refuelling plane that went down at about 2 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday during an incident involving two aircraft.
The command explained that while one aircraft crashed, the other landed safely.
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“The KC-135 aircraft went down at approximately 2 p.m. ET when two aircraft were involved in ‘an incident,’ CENTCOM said in a brief statement Thursday, confirming that ‘one of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely.”
Officials also ruled out any form of attack as the cause of the crash.
“This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” CENTCOM said.
According to a U.S. official, the second aircraft involved in the incident was also a KC-135 tanker.
Authorities said investigations into the circumstances surrounding the crash are ongoing.
Officials added that the identities of the deceased service members would not be released until at least 24 hours after their families have been notified.
(ABC News)