“The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing,” a release from US Central Command said, using the operation name the Pentagon has given to US operations against Iran. “Two aircraft were involved in the incident. One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely. This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”
Sounds like a collision during refueling.
Weird.
It is possible for one tanker to refuel another I think, or multiple tankers could have been flying in formation.
Fuelception
A few of these 135’s can receive fuel midair and judging from the damage to the Beale 135 that landed, most likely a collision while refueling.