Six U.S. Service Members Killed in Iraq Refueling Plane Crash

A woman raising two children was among the six U.S. service members killed last week when a refueling plane involved in the war with Iran crashed in western Iraq. Tech Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, hailed from a large family in Bardstown, Kentucky, and was “very, very” proud of her military career, her husband Gregory Pruitt said Sunday. “I’ll give you something brief -– in a word, radiant,” he said on a phone interview, trying to hold back tears. “If there was a light in the room, she was it.” Survivors include the couple’s 3-year-old daughter and Sgt. Pruitt’s stepson. Most recently, she had served with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron from Sumpter Smith Joint National Guard Base in Birmingham, Alabama. She was an assistant flight chief of operations and was an instructor in operating the boom of a KC-135. Pruitt joined the military nine years ago and had previously deployed overseas three times. She had nearly 900 combat flight hours and two associate degrees from the Community College of the Air Force. The U.S. military late Saturday identified Pruitt and the other five crash victims, three connected to the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, and Sumpter Smith; the other three were out of an Ohio Air National Guard base in Columbus. “To lose a member of the Air Force family is excruciatingly painful, especially to those who know them as son, daughter, brother, sister, spouse, mom, or dad,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Ed Szczepanik, commander of the 6th Air Refueling Wing, in a news release. “To lose them at the same time is unimaginable.” Maj. Gen. Matthew S. Woodruff, the Ohio adjutant general, called the three from Columbus “remarkable Airmen whose service and commitment embodied the very best of our Ohio National Guard. Their impact on their teammates and our mission will not be forgotten.” The aircraft was in “friendly” airspace, supporting operations against Iran, when an unspecified incident involving another aircraft occurred on Thursday, according to U.S. Central Command. The other plane landed safety, U.S. military officials said. The crash is being investigated. The KC-135 aircraft refuels other planes in midair, allowing them to fly longer distances and sustain operations without landing. The plane also can be used to transport wounded personnel and conduct surveillance missions, according to military experts. The Congressional Research Service says the Air Force last year had 376 KC-135s, including 151 on active duty, 163 in the Air National Guard and 62 in the Air Force Reserve. It has been in service for more than 60 years. Maj. John A. “Alex” Klinner, 33, had just been promoted to major in January and had been deployed less than a week when the crash occurred, his brother-in-law said. The pilot left behind three small children: 7-month-old twins and a 2-year-old son, according to his brother-in-law, James Harrill. Klinner was a graduate of Auburn University and an eight-year U.S. Air Force veteran from Birmingham, Alabama. He had just moved with his family into a new home, his wife Libby Klinner said in an Instagram post mourning his death. He was the chief of squadron standards and evaluations at the Birmingham air base. An outdoorsman who enjoyed hiking, Klinner was also ready to help others. When Harrill last saw him in January, Klinner had shoveled Harrill’s vehicle out of the snow during a family wedding. “Alex was one of those guys that had this steady command about him,” said Harrill, of Atlanta, who helped set up a GoFundMe site for Klinner’s family. “He was literally one of the most kindest, giving people.” Libby Klinner said in a post that her heart is broken for their children, who will grow up not knowing their father. “They won’t get to see firsthand the way he would jump up to help in any way he could,” she wrote. “They won’t see how goofy and funny he was. They won’t witness his selflessness, the way he thought about everyone else before himself. They won’t get to feel the deep love he had for them.” He deployed four times since 2019 and had put in 362 combat hours and 181 combat support hours. Tech Sgt. Tyler Simmons, 28, served with the Ohio Air National Guard’s 166th Air Refueling Squadron as a boom operator responsible for transferring fuel from the tanker to the receiving aircraft, according to his Air Force biography. His mother, Cheryl Simmons, said Saturday that she was making funeral plans for her son, who lived in Columbus. In a statement obtained by WCMH-TV in Columbus, Tyler Simmons’ family said it was saddened beyond measure to hear of the fatal crash. “Tyler’s smile could light up any room, his strong presence would fill it. His parents, grandparents, family and friends are grief stricken for the loss of life,” they said. Simmons joined the Air Force in 2017 and earned an associate degree from the Community College of the Air Force. He became a refueling specialist in 2022 and was made a technical sergeant in 2023. He deployed three times in the past decade and had 230 combat hours. Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, was a pilot with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron, serving as its chief of current operations. She was responsible for the flying hour program and managing daily flight scheduling, among other duties. Savino, from Covington, Washington, was a product of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Central Washington University, earning an active duty commission in 2017. She served at bases in Georgia and Mississippi and had more than 300 combat hours. She was made captain in 2021. Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, was an instructor pilot for the KC135R Stratotanker with 19 years of service, according to the Ohio National Guard. A resident of Stoutsville, Ohio, Koval was an aircraft commander with the 121st Air Refueling Wing out of Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus. The military said he had trained pilots in air refueling, aeromedical, cargo and passenger operations. A statement from the U.S. government said Koval was from Mooresville, Indiana. Koval had a bachelor’s degree in aviation operations from Purdue University and deployed five times in the past 12 years. His assignments included stops in Indiana, Ohio, Alabama, Texas an Oklahoma. Koval had more than 2,000 flight hours, including 443 in combat, the Ohio Guard said. He was promoted to captain in 2022. Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, was in the military for a decade after getting a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He enlisted in the Ohio Air National Guard in 2015, with deployments in 2015 and this year. Angst was a KC-135R pilot with the 166th Air Refueling Squadron and lived in Columbus. A statement about his death from the federal government indicated he was from Wilmington, Ohio. He had 880 flight hours, including 67 combat hours. Angst was promoted to captain in November.