The Department of Defense released the names of the six airmen who died when their LC-135 Refueling plane crashed in western Iraq on Thursday.
They are: Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Alabama; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, of Covington, Washington.; and Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Kentucky, who were all assigned to the 6th Air Refueling Wing. Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Indiana.; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio were assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing.
The 6th Air Refueling Wing is based out of MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. The 121st Air Refueling Wing, an Ohio Air National Guard unit, is based at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Ohio.
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The KC-135 went down while flying over friendly airspace on Thursday, according to U.S. Central Command. Despite rescue efforts, all six onboard were confirmed dead. The tanker was participating in Operation Epic Fury — the military’s name for the war with Iran that started on Feb. 28 — and two aircraft were involved in the incident, according to CENTCOM.
The Air Force is currently investigating the incident and the identification announcement did not offer any updates or additional details on what happened. US Central Command previously said that the incident “was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.” The second aircraft, identified by the Associated Press as another KC-135, landed safely, according to CENTCOM.
Family, friends and elected representatives paid tribute to the dead crew. John “Alex” Klinner served as the Chief of Squadron Standardizations and Evaluations at the 99th Air Refueling Squadron, according to the 18th Air Force, and oversaw the unit’s Standardization and Evaluation program. He earned his commission in 2017 through the ROTC while studying at Auburn University, according to a GoFundMe set up for his family. He had served as an instructor pilot and evaluator pilot, taking part in operations in Latin America and the Middle East. Savino was the 99th Air Refueling Squadron’s chief of current operations pilots, and commissioned in 2017. She served as a combat systems operator and as a pilot. Pruitt was an assistant flight chief of operations and worked as a KC-135 instructor boom operator, and also entered the Air Force in 2017. She had multiple deployments to CENTCOM’s area of responsibility, supporting multiple operations.
According to the 121st Air Refueling Wing, Koval worked as a KC-135 instructor pilot, having previously worked in maintenance supporting F-16s, and was remembered as an “avid outdoorsman.” Angst was a pilot with the 166th Air Refueling Squadron. He originally enlisted in the Ohio Air National Guard in 2015, working as a vehicle maintenance technician. He was commissioned in 2021, trained as a pilot and qualified in 2024. He deployed both as an enlisted airman and officer. Simmons, a boom operator, joined the military in 2018, and had three deployments, according to his family.
A total of 13 American service members have been killed while participating in Operation Epic Fury. Six were killed after an Iranian drone struck a building in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, while another died from injuries sustained after Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia was hit. Those attacks all occurred in the first 48 hours of the war.
The refueling plane is the fourth U.S. aircraft confirmed lost since the start of the war. Three F-15s were shot down over Kuwait in a friendly fire incident by a Kuwaiti Air Force F-18; all crew were recovered. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, March 13 that five Air force refueling tankers were hit and damaged in an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
