U.S. military refueling plane goes down in Iraq ‘after mid-air incident with second aircraft’ during Operation Epic Fury as rescue efforts underway | 12 March 2026 | A United States military refueling plane has gone down in western Iraq during the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran. Rescue efforts are underway, a spokesperson for the U.S. military said Thursday. The aircraft was part of the U.S. military operation against Iran, but the crash was not due to hostile or friendly fire, it said. U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said in a statement that two aircraft were involved in the incident. It described the latter as “a loss.” “The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing,” a spokesperson said. “One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely.” A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity…said the other plane involved also was a KC-135 tanker.