Plane Crash in Iraq Kills Six as Ohio Confirms Three Among Dead
plane crash tragedy struck a U. S. military crew after an American KC-135 refueling aircraft went down in Iraq, killing all six people on board. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Friday that three of the six crew members were from Ohio and had deployed with the Ohio Air National Guard’s 121st Air Refueling Wing. The identities of all six crew members were not fully detailed in the available official statements referenced here, but the loss is already rippling through units tied to Columbus and beyond.
What we know right now about the plane crash
The aircraft involved was a U. S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker, an aerial refueling plane. The crash occurred in Iraq and resulted in six fatalities, with no survivors among those on board. DeWine’s statement narrowed the impact on Ohio directly: three crew members were from the state and were serving with the Ohio Air National Guard’s 121st Air Refueling Wing, based in Columbus.
The public materials tied to the incident include images and captions connected to members of the 121st Air Refueling Wing and its operations, including mission and training settings. Those materials underscore the operational role of the unit but do not provide an official cause or sequence of events for the crash.
Immediate reactions from officials and units
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, speaking Friday (ET), confirmed the Ohio connection, saying three of the six crew members killed in Iraq had deployed with the Ohio Air National Guard’s 121st Air Refueling Wing. DeWine’s remarks are the clearest official accounting in the provided context of where some of the crew members were from and the unit they deployed with.
The available captions also identify individual service members tied to the wing, including U. S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Tyler Simmons, described in unit imagery as a boom operator and in-flight refueling specialist with the 121st Air Refueling Wing. Another caption references U. S. Air Force Master Sgt. Aaron Slupski, identified as a crew chief with the 121st Maintenance Group, shown in a Jan. 28, 2026 image preparing to marshal a KC-135 at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, Ohio. A separate photo caption references Maj. Alex Klinner in an image dated Jan. 10, 2026.
Those captions do not state whether the individuals pictured were among the six killed, and no official roster of the crew was provided in the available context.
Quick context: the unit and aircraft involved
The Ohio Air National Guard’s 121st Air Refueling Wing operates the KC-135 Stratotanker, a platform used for aerial refueling missions. Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus is shown in unit imagery as a location where KC-135 operations and support activity take place.
What’s next
In the coming hours, the most pressing next step will be formal, complete identification of the six service members lost, along with official notification details that families and units rely on. Any updates on the cause of the incident have not been provided in the context available here, and no investigative findings were cited.
For Ohio, attention is now focused on the 121st Air Refueling Wing community as it absorbs the loss confirmed by the governor. As more official information is released, it will shape the public understanding of how this plane crash unfolded and how the military will account for what happened in Iraq.
