Washington (CNN)Eleven people were killed when a U.S. C-130 plane
crashed in Afghanistan early Friday morning, the U.S. military said.
Everyone aboard --
six U.S. Air Force members and five civilians -- died in the incident, the U.S.
military said.
The Pentagon on
Saturday identified the airmen as Capt. Jonathan J. Golden, 33, of Camarillo,
California; Capt. Jordan B. Pierson, 28, of Abilene, Texas; Staff Sgt. Ryan D.
Hammond, 26, of Moundsville, West Virginia; Senior Airman Quinn L.
Johnson-Harris, 21, of Milwaukee; Senior Airman Nathan C. Sartain, 29, of
Pensacola, Florida; and Airman 1st Class Kcey E. Ruiz, 21, of McDonough,
Georgia.
Golden, Pierson,
Hammond and Johnson-Harris were assigned to the 39th Airlift Squadron, Dyess
Air Force Base, Texas. Sartain and Ruiz were assigned to the 66th Security
Forces Squadron, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts.
It is not yet
known what caused the crash at Jalalabad Airport near the Afghan-Pakistani
border and whether hostile fire was involved, though the U.S. military in
Afghanistan believes the latter to be unlikely.
"With high
confidence, it does not appear at this time that enemy fire was involved in the
aircraft crash. We have first responders on scene working at the crash site
doing recovery operations," said Maj. Tony Wickman, a U.S. military
spokesman, in an emailed statement to CNN.
However, the
Taliban claimed that Islamist fighters downed the plane.
The plane
"was shot down in an attack by Mujahedeen in Jalalabad city," Taliban
spokesman Zabiullah Majahid said on Twitter.
Wickman said an
investigation is underway to determine the cause of the crash.
The Jalalabad
Airport, which has hosted the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force,
has been subject to attacks by militants in the past.
The Lockheed C-130
Hercules, which has been in use since the 1950s, transports cargo.
President Barack
Obama and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter put out statements on the crash
Friday morning expressing sympathy for both the American and Afghan lives that
were lost.
Carter said the
Pentagon was "still trying to determine exactly what happened," but
that in any case the incident was "a reminder of the risks that our men
and women face serving their country in remote places all over the world."
Obama offered
similar remarks.
"As we mark
this terrible loss of life, we are reminded of the sacrifice brave Americans
and our Afghan partners make each and every day in the name of freedom and
security," he said. "Their willingness to serve so selflessly will
not be forgotten."
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