Three of the six U.S. service members who died in the crash of a U.S. military refueling aircraft were stationed in Birmingham as part of 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. The U.S. government identified Captain Ariana Savino, 31, of Covington, Washington, and Tech. Sergeant Ashley Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Kentucky as two of the fatalities with connections to Alabama. The first one named was Major Alex Klinner.
Klinner had just been promoted and deployed. The U.S. government released the identities of the deceased service members Saturday. They include three assigned to the Ohio National Guard and three assigned to a Florida air base. The family of Birmingham, Alabama, pilot Alex Klinner confirms he was killed in the crash. The family says Klinner had recently been promoted to major and been deployed less than a week.
Three additional deceased service members on the aircraft were assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, Ohio. They were identified by federal and state officials as Capt. Seth Koval, 38, Capt. Curtis Angst, 30, and Tech. Sgt. Tyler Simmons, 28.
The U.S. government listed Koval from Mooresville, Indiana, while the Ohio National Guard listed his home Stoutsville, Ohio. The Ohio National Guard listed both Angst and Simmons from Columbus, Ohio, while the U.S. government listed Angst as from Wilmington, Ohio.
The crash was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire, the military said in a statement, which described the plane as “a loss.” U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, originally said that two aircraft were involved and that one landed safely and the other went down in western Iraq. A second U.S. official, who similarly spoke on condition of anonymity, said the other plane involved also was a KC-135 tanker.
The tanker is the fourth publicly acknowledged aircraft to crash as part of the U.S. military’s operations against Iran. Last week, three American fighter jets were mistakenly downed by friendly Kuwaiti fire. All six crew members safely ejected from the F-15E Strike Eagles and were in stable condition after being recovered, the U.S. said.
Both President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have warned that the Iran war would likely claim more American lives before it ends. Six of the fallen service members were killed when an Iranian drone struck an operations center at a civilian port in Kuwait. They were in the Army Reserve and worked in logistics, keeping troops supplied with food and equipment.
They died one day after the U.S. and Israel launched the military campaign against Iran on Feb. 28. The Islamic Republic has retaliated with missiles and drones against Israel and several Gulf Arab states that host U.S. armed forces. Trump joined grieving families for a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base when the remains of the first six soldiers were returned to the United States. Vice President JD Vance, Hegseth and others saluted the seventh flag-draped transfer case as it arrived this week at Dover.
The KC-135 tanker involved in the latest crash is based on the same design as the Boeing 707 airliner and entered military service more than 60 years ago. Like other long-serving aircraft, the planes have undergone various retrofits and upgrades over the years. The KC-135 tankers typically have a crew of three.
