US Air Force officials investigating the Sept. 26 accident at Manas Airport in Kyrgyzstan involving a Kyrgyz airliner and a USAF KC-135 found the accident to be primarily the fault of a Kyrgyz air traffic controller. An earlier announcement by Kyrgyz officials put the blame squarely on the USAF aircrew. The USAF accident board acknowledged that the KC-135 aircrew shared some responsibility. The board also faulted a tower liaison employed by the US to ease communication.
The Senate passed its version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization bill late Oct. 9 with new language restricting retirements for B-1 bombers and E-3 AWACS. Now lawmakers from the House and Senate must set about resolving the differences between their two bills, which could lead to significant changes for…