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.
Boeing received a $2.47 billion Air Force contract Nov. 25 for 15 more KC-46s, bringing to 183 the number of Pegasus tankers on contract to all customers, foreign and domestic. The new contract—for Lot 12 of the initially planned KC-46 buy—is to be completed by 2029.
