An MC-12 surveillance aircraft crashed in southern Afghanistan on April 27, claiming the lives of four airmen, announced Air Forces Central Command on Sunday. According to a Pentagon release, the deceased airmen are: Capt. Brandon L. Cyr, 28, of Woodbridge, Va., assigned to the 906th Air Refueling Squadron at Scott AFB, Ill.; Capt. Reid K. Nishizuka, 30, of Kailua, Hawaii, assigned to the 427th Reconnaissance Squadron at Beale AFB, Calif.; SSgt. Richard A. Dickson, 24, of Rancho Cordova, Calif., assigned to the 306th Intelligence Squadron at Beale; and SSgt. Daniel N. Fannin, 30, of Morehead, Ky., assigned to the 552nd Operations Support Squadron at Tinker AFB, Okla. The crash occurred at approximately 1:30 p.m. local time in the province of Zabul, about 110 miles northeast of Kandahar Airfield, according to AFCENT. The airmen were serving with Kandahar’s 361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron. Coalition forces secured the crash site and recovered the airmen’s remains, according to AFCENT. The cause of the accident is under investigation. Initial reporting indicated there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash, according to the Pentagon’s release.
NASA Boss: Race to Moon Has National Security Stakes
Sept. 15, 2026
NASA is pushing hard to get astronauts back to the moon by 2028—and the urgency is driven in no small part by the national security implications of doing so before China does, Administrator Jared Isaacman said Sept. 15.
