Four U.S. airmen were killed Saturday when their MC-12 aircraft crashed near Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan.
Two of those killed were based at Beale Air Force Base in California. The U.S. Air Force has identified them as:
-Staff Sgt. Richard A. Dickson, 24, of Rancho Cordova, California. He was assigned to the 306th Intelligence Squadron.
-Capt. Reid K. Nishizuka, 30, of Kailua, Hawaii. He was assigned to the 427th Reconnaissance Squadron.
Col. Phil Stewart, installation commander at Beale, said of the fallen:
"All of us are saddened at the loss of Capt. Nishizuka and Staff Sgt. Dickson. The Air Force is a tight-knit family, and it hurts to lose a wingman in combat. I'd like to express my deepest condolences to the families and friends impacted by this tragedy; our thoughts and prayers are with them..."
Also killed in the crash were:
-Staff Sgt. Daniel N. Fannin, 30, of Morehead, Kentucky. He was assigned to the 552nd Operations Support Squadron at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma.
-Capt. Brandon L. Cyr, 28, of Woodbridge, Virginia. He was assigned to the 906th Air Refueling Squadron at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.
According to an Air Force press release:
The cause of the crash is under investigation, however initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash.
Rogh Lewanai, the police chief of Zabul province, told Reuters that bad weather caused the Americans' plane to go down, although that has yet to be officially confirmed.
