Aircraft crash adds to rising U.S. death toll in Iran war

April Rubin

A KC-135 refueling aircraft used by the U.S. military. — A KC-135 aircraft flies on April 27, 2025 in Talladega, Alabama. Photo: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

All six crew members died after a U.S. refueling tanker aircraft crashed on Thursday in Iraq, U.S. Central Command said on Friday.

The big picture: The crash brings the U.S. death toll to 13 as President Trump's Iran war nears the two-week mark.

The identities of the service members on the KC-135 crash are being withheld until 24 hours after their families are notified.

Catch up quick: The KC-135 aircraft crashed into another aircraft while flying over friendly airspace in western Iraq.

The second aircraft landed safely.
"The circumstances of the incident are under investigation," U.S. Central Command said in a Friday statement. "However, the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire."

What they're saying: "Bad things can happen," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said when discussing the incident during a Friday news conference. "American heroes, all of them."

"Our service members make an incredible sacrifice to go forward and do the things that the nation asks of them," Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Friday. "It's a reminder of the true cost and dedication of the joint force."

Go deeper: Hegseth claims Iran's new supreme leader is "wounded and likely disfigured"

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Aircraft crash adds to rising U.S. death toll in Iran war

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