Air Force Crash in Iraq Kills Six

0:00On March 15th, a tragic crash in Iraq claimed the lives of six Air Force members this week when their KC-135 refueling plane went down in. Friendly airspace, three were from the sixth air refueling wing at McDill Air Force Base in Florida, station in Birmingham, Alabama. The other three belonged to the 121st air refueling wing at Rick and Bakker Air National Guard Base near Columbus, Ohio. The tanker was supporting operations against Iran in western Iraq on Thursday when an incident happened with another aircraft. That plane landed safely, and officials say the crash was not caused by hostile or friendly fire. US Central Command is now investigating what went wrong. Among those killed was 33-year-old Major Alex Cleaner from Birmingham, Alabama, who had just been promoted in January and deployed less than. A week earlier, he leaves behind a wife and three young children, including seven month old twins and a two-year-old son. The others included 31-year-old Captain Arianna Savino from Washington State, 34-year-old

1:02TechSarge and Ashley Pruitt from Kentucky, 38-year-old Captain Seth Koval, 30-year-old Captain Curtis Angst, and 28-year-old TechSarge and Tyler Simmons, all with ties. To Ohio and Indiana, families are heartbroken, sharing memories of devoted parents and skilled service members, like pilots and a boom operator who handled mid-air fuel. Transfers Cleaner was an outdoorsman and Auburn University grad with eight years in the Air Force, while others brought years of experience from places like Purdue and the University of Cincinnati. As the probe continues, this loss highlights the risks of these vital missions, keeping planes in the air longer without landing. Our hearts go out to the families and units grieving these heroes.