Three Crew Reportedly On Board US Refueling Plane That Crashed In Kyrgyzstan

Wikimedia CommonsThe Kyrgyzstan emergencies ministry says a U.S. Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, used to refuel military aircraft, has crashed near an American air base in the country.

The Associated Press reports the plane went down Friday afternoon about 100 miles west of the re-named U.S. air base now called the Transit Center at Manas.

Spencer Ackerman from Wired tweeted that three crew members were aboard the craft, but official confirmation through the Air Force has yet to be released.

The base name was changed after a series of controversies local, as well as regional pressures to close it down, were resolved in 2010.

Regional official, Kuralbek Khamaliyev, told the AP the tanker broke into three pieces after crashing in a deserted portion of land near the village of Chaldovar.

The KC-135 has a solid reliability record and the last time one of the Air Force tanker's crashed was more than 14 years ago. That Air National Guard plane went down in Germany on approach after returning from a refueling mission.

The air base at Manas was opened in December 2001 in preparation for Operation Enduring Freedom, and the refueling of jets flying over Afghanistan.

The base, however, has seen its share of obstacles.

The 2005 Tulip Revolution that toppled Kyrgyz president Askar Akayev from power had no immediate affect on Manas' mission, but the country's new president demanded more money for allowing the military to continue its presence there.

Though U.S. forces remained, the State Department received a formal eviction notice in 2009.

Days later Russia announced $2 billion in loans and $150 million in aid to Kyrgyzstan. Experts believe the compensation from Moscow was dependent upon U.S. expulsion from the country.

To retain use of the base U.S. officials upped the annual rent payment from about $17 million to $60 million and agreed to another $117 million in payments.

Realizing that ridding the region of a U.S. military presence was simply a matter of cash, the Chinese government allegedly offered Kyrgyzstan $3 billion.

Outlined in a leaked 2009 WikiLeaks cable, China did not deny the allegation.