Kentucky
Kentuckian among six airmen killed in Iraq aircraft crash
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – All six crew members of a KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed while supporting operations against Iran are dead, the U.S. military said Friday.
The Department of War announced that 34-year-old Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt of Bardstown was among the six killed. She was assigned to the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.
The DOW identified the other five Airmen as:
- Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, of Auburn, Alabama
- Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, of Covington, Washington
- Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, of Mooresville, Indiana
- Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, of Wilmington, Ohio
- Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, of Columbus, Ohio
U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said the crash in western Iraq on Thursday followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace” and that the other plane landed safely.
The crash brings the U.S. death toll in Operation Epic Fury to at least 13 service members, with the seven others killed in combat. About 140 U.S. service members have been injured, including eight severely, the Pentagon said earlier this week.
The KC-135 has been in service for more than 60 years and has been involved in several fatal accidents, most recently in 2013. Adding to concerns about their reliability, the aircraft don’t always carry parachutes.
Here’s what is known so far about the tanker, which is the fourth U.S. military aircraft publicly acknowledged to have crashed since the war against Iran began on Feb. 28:
Cause of crash not immediately known
U.S. Central Command said the circumstances of the crash are under investigation but that the loss of the aircraft was “not due to hostile or friendly fire.”
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the developing situation, said the other plane involved was also a KC-135. Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., wrote on X that the other plane landed safely in Israel.
Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon on Friday morning that the crash occurred “over friendly territory in western Iraq, while the crew was on a combat mission” and reiterated that hostile or friendly fire was not the cause.
Speaking at the same news conference, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the crew heroes.
“War is hell. War is chaos,” Hegseth said. “And as we saw yesterday with the tragic crash of our KC-135 tanker, bad things can happen. American heroes, all of them.”
Hegseth and Caine spoke to reporters before the deaths of the six crew member had been made public.
Yang Uk, a security expert at South Korea’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said it would be rare for a refueling tanker to be downed by enemy fire because such operations are usually conducted in the rear of combat zones.
Last week, three U.S. F-15E fighter jets were mistakenly downed by friendly Kuwaiti fire. All six crew members ejected safely.
The KC-135 is a long-serving tanker plane
The KC-135 Stratotanker is a U.S. Air Force aircraft used to refuel other planes in midair, allowing them to fly longer distances and sustain operations without landing. The plane is also used to transport wounded personnel during medical evacuations or conduct surveillance missions, according to military experts.
“The last of these planes were produced in the 1960s,” Yang said.
Based on the same design as the Boeing 707 passenger plane, the KC-135 is set to be gradually phased out as more of the next-generation KC-46A Pegasus tankers enter service.
According to the Congressional Research Service, 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.
A basic KC-135 crew consists of three people: a pilot, co-pilot and boom operator. Nurses and medical technicians are added in aeromedical evacuation missions.
Refueling typically happens at the back of the plane, where the boom operator is located. A fuel boom is lowered to connect with fighters, bombers or other aircraft. On many of the planes, the boom operator works lying face down while looking out of a window on the underside of the plane.
Some KC-135s can also refuel planes from pods on their wings. The tankers have room to carry cargo or passengers if needed.
Refueling tankers could play an increasingly important role if the Iran war drags on, as U.S. aircraft may need to fly longer missions to pursue Iranian forces retreating deeper into the country, said Yang.
Copyright 2026 WKYT. All rights reserved.
How are the Kentucky Wildcats celebrating America’s 250th birthday? They’re home for the 4th of July with their friends and family — and it sounds like there will be plenty of time spent out on the water, maybe with a cold beverage or two, for those old enough to partake.
KSR caught up with a couple of sharpshooters to wrap up the team’s third week of summer workouts, both thrilled to head home for the long weekend and get those grills fired up.
Milan Momcilovic is back in Wisconsin, enjoying some well-deserved time off, hitting the lake in his hometown before heading back to Lexington for the start of week four.
“Yeah, I’m going back home, going on Pewaukee Lake, so that’ll be fun,” he said. “We get 3 days, so I’ll be back Sunday.”
What’s on the menu?
“Burgers, brats, Wisconsin cheese — maybe a drink or two,” the newest Wildcat joked.
As for Trent Noah, he’s in Harlan doing the same thing, getting his swimming trunks on to stay cool in this insane heat.
“I’m hoping to get back home and maybe hit the lake a little bit,” he told KSR. “The 4th of July is always fun, can’t go wrong. It’s been so hot, so you’ve got to find some body of water.”
A favorite childhood tradition? Fireworks with the family, something he’s surprised worked out so well over the years with his cousins letting the light show rip right in the middle of the yard every Independence Day.
No emergency room visits, only fun and quality time with his loved ones.
“Family fireworks for sure, the cousins shooting them off in the yard,” he said. “Probably wasn’t the safest thing looking back on it [laughs], but we all made it through. That was fun, everybody all together.”
What’s the Noah family cooking up on America’s birthday? He’s proud to say mom is the superstar when it comes to day-to-day meals, but his dad is the grillmaster when it’s time to light some charcoal. He’ll handle the traditional meats while she’ll nail the other dishes.
“My mom is normally the cook — she normally cooks everything, except the grill. My dad kind of breaks it out every now and then, normally the traditional burgers and hot dogs. My dad has the upper hand on the grill, but my mom, she’s got everything else.”
Happy 4th of July, Big Blue Nation! If you want to be like your favorite Wildcats, it sounds like you had better get to the lake and eat a cheeseburger today before lighting off some fireworks after dark.
Stay safe and go Cats.
Kentucky
Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate says voters deserve ‘honest answer’ about McConnell’s health
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Latvian record holder Nikolass Deicmans has signed with Kentucky for the recruiting class of 2026.
Deicmans holds the Latvia national record in the 200 backstroke at 2:01.18 at the 2026 Lithuanian Championships, breaking his own record of 2:01.52 from the 2025 Lithuanian Championships.
He is also the Latvian record holder in the SCM event, swimming 1:53.47 earlier this month at the Latvian Championships to take three seconds off Uvis Kalnins‘ 2016 time of 1:56.07.
He has also represented Latvia internationally at a few different meets including the 2025 World Championships, where he swam the 100 and 200 backstroke, finishing 51st in the 100 (57.18), and 36th in the 200 (2:02.50).
Despite the new five-for-five eligibility rules taking effect, Deicmans will likely only have four years of collegiate eligibility, turning 20 at the beginning of April. The new rule states that an athlete’s clock will start at full-time college enrollment or the academic year after their 19th birthday, whichever comes first. For Deicmans, this means that his clock likely started last fall, giving him a maximum four years at Kentucky.
Deicmans’ Lifetime Best and Conversions
| Event | SCM/LCM | |
| 200 Free (LCM) | 1:52.83 | 1:37.08 |
| 100 Back (SCM) | 52.41 | 46.99 |
| 200 Back (SCM) | 1:53.47 | 1:41.37 |
| 200 IM (SCM) | 2:01.06 | 1:48.34 |
Kentucky is coming off an 8th place finish at the SEC Championships last season, scoring 582 points to sit about 30 points behind LSU (614) and almost 80 points ahead of Texas A&M (503.5).
Deicmans’ converted times fall just outside of NCAA qualification in his events with the 100 back cutline sitting at 44.82 last season and the 200 back cutline sitting at 1:39.53.
At the SEC Championships, however, Deicmans could be a multi-event point scorer. His 100 backstroke converted time would have been 25th in prelims, just four hundredths behind Hayden Meyers of Georgia, who finished 24th in 46.94.
In the 200 back, his converted time would have qualified for the ‘B’ final, where he would have finished 13th overall. His 200 free and 200 IM would both have been outside of scoring position.
The University of Kentucky retains its top two 100 backstrokers, Lysander Osman and Devin Naoroz from last season, who are both faster than Deicmans’ converted times. Only Naoroz was faster in the 200 backstroke, though.
He will join a small recruiting class of all international swimmers for 2026 consisting of Italian Filippo Bertoni, Estonia’s Siim Keskula, and Romania’s Darius-Matei Trenchea.
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