Spokane, North Idaho News
An American military refueling plane carrying three crew members crashed Friday in the rugged mountains of Kyrgyzstan, the Central Asian nation where the U.S. operates an air base key to the war in Afghanistan.
The plane was a KC-135 from McConnell Air Force Base's 22nd Air Refueling Wing in Wichita, Kansas. Reports from the U.S. Air Force stated the three member crew was from Fairchild Air Force Base located in Spokane, Washington.
The plane crashed at 2:55 p.m. near Chaldovar, a village 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of the U.S. Transit Center at Manas base outside the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. Pieces of the plane, including its tail, were scattered across in a grassy field bordered by mountains; the air was infused with the heavy stench of fuel.
The plane was on a refueling mission for Afghanistan war operations at the time of the crash.
The front section of the aircraft has not yet been found, Kyrgyz Emergencies Minister Kubatbek Boronov told The Associated Press. He said searchers also have not found the flight recorders from the plane, which was badly burned in the crash.
The search for the crew will resume Saturday morning and the crash site will remain under guard, Boronov said.
(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; This is a blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)
