COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two Ohio service members and a Kentucky airwoman are among six U.S. airmen killed when a military refueling aircraft crashed during a mission connected to the conflict involving Iran.
The Pentagon confirmed that Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, died in the crash of a KC-135 Stratotanker operating in the Middle East.
Simmons served with the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, a major Ohio National Guard installation.
Also killed was Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio — about 70 miles southwest of Columbus — who served alongside Simmons in the same refueling wing.
The third tragic death was a senior servicewoman with ties to the wider region, was Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, of Bardstown, Kentucky, a community roughly 200 miles south of Clermont County.
Pruitt, who was raising two children, came from a large Bardstown family and was “very, very” proud of her military career, according to her husband, Gregory Pruitt, who spoke to reporters yesterday
Survivors include the couple’s three-year-old daughter and Pruitt’s stepson.
Military officials say the aircraft went down in western Iraq during an aerial refueling mission, a key role supporting U.S. air operations tied to the regional conflict. Also killed were Maj. John “Alex” Klinner, 33; Capt. Ariana Savino, 31; and Capt. Seth Koval, 38.
Investigators say the crash was not caused by hostile fire, but the cause remains under investigation.
All six crew members aboard the aircraft were killed.
The deaths have sent shockwaves through the Ohio Air National Guard community, particularly at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, where fellow service members are mourning the loss of the airmen.
Officials say tributes and memorial arrangements are expected in the coming days.
