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US KC-135 Down - Kyrgyzstan


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The first thing that caught my attention was that from the pictures it appears the rudder separated from the vertical stab. Still holding out that because of the remoteness of the crash site, news of the crew hasn't been as forthcoming. It hasn't been a good couple weeks.

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It's a McConnell tail, but that doesn't mean anything in regards to the crew.

It is the 3rd day of the month, which is generally Guard over-the-shoulder day which would also explain 5 on board...

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Any mention of where they were home based? This system is filtering lots of the imagery.

On the link with pictures near the bottom someone posted the KC135 was from MacDill out in tampa (unconfirmed). Its for sure a sad day. Thoughts and prayers go out to the familys affected.

Edited by AceMohr
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On the link with pictures near the bottom someone posted the KC135 was from MacDill out in tampa (unconfirmed). Its for sure a sad day. Thoughts and prayers go out to the familys affected.

you can look at the tail flash and see it was from mcconnel and not macdill

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CNN is reporting people saw a chute. Doubtful it's reliable but let's hope.

Chutes came off the jet years ago to save weight. :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: to the crew....NKAWTG! I'm getting really sick of reading about mishaps lately.

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Chutes came off the jet years ago to save weight. :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: to the crew....NKAWTG! I'm getting really sick of reading about mishaps lately.

McConnell jet. I have credible facebook rumors about where the crew was from but I'm not sharing them here. Parachutes removed as stated to "save fuel" (go f%ck yourself Gen Lichte). I'm gonna go find that dude standing on the tail and kick him in the balls. Flying tomorrow, guessing its going to be a quiet flight.

I knew the one of the dudes that went down on the MC-12, now this. FML.

A toast. :beer:

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There are very few scenarios I can think of where a heavy crew would need parachutes and also have the time or ability to get to them. I doubt they would have helped these guys. The lack of any evidence of a fire on those pics would support the idea this jet was in pieces before it hit the ground.

Prayers to the families.

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What's rough about this crash (don't get me wrong thier all tough to take) is that no matter what you do in fixed wing aviation you feel like you get to know the tanker crews...especially over the course of a deployment where you get gas from the same guys several times a week. They become friends in a hurry...

God speed guys...

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There are very few scenarios I can think of where a heavy crew would need parachutes and also have the time or ability to get to them. I doubt they would have helped these guys. The lack of any evidence of a fire on those pics would support the idea this jet was in pieces before it hit the ground.

Prayers to the families.

True, it probably wouldn't have helped these guys as they were stored in the tail. However, our seats were designed to store a 'chute and our plane has an egress system a-la the B-17. It worked in WWII. It would work now. If you were breaking apart in flight and had them on its possible you could get out.

If something is causing tankers to come apart they won't ground us, leaving us with no options.

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True, it probably wouldn't have helped these guys as they were stored in the tail. However, our seats were designed to store a 'chute and our plane has an egress system a-la the B-17. It worked in WWII. It would work now. If you were breaking apart in flight and had them on its possible you could get out.

If something is causing tankers to come apart they won't ground us, leaving us with no options.

Understand, but I'm guessing no tanker crews have actually worn them in flight in 30+ years. Hence why they took them off. This is a terrible yet, thankfully, very rare tragedy.

Godspeed boys.

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Understand, but I'm guessing no tanker crews have actually worn them in flight in 30+ years. Hence why they took them off. This is a terrible yet, thankfully, very rare tragedy.

Godspeed boys.

They wore them in Desert Storm and at the kick off of OIF.

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