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Video by Master Sgt. Brian Ellison

126th Air Refueling Wing Crash Memorial

126th Air Refueling Wing

March 16, 2022 | 2:49

Please take a moment to remember our fellow 126th Air Refueling Wing team mates and 928th Tactical Airlift Group Airmen that passed away in an aircraft crash 40 years ago, March 19, 1982.
The wing is participating in a Day of Remembrance at the Wonder Lake, Illinois, Fire Department Two, tomorrow, March 19. Lunch is at 11:30 a.m., where the name of each service member lost in the crash will be read. Following lunch, weather permitting, the service will move to near the site of the crash which will include a flyover by the 126th Air Refueling Wing.
March 19, 1982, an Illinois Air National Guard 126th Air Refueling Wing KC-135 tanker exploded in a thunderstorm and crashed from a height of 13,000 feet. Four 126th ARW crew members and 23 passengers were aboard. There were no survivors. The 23 passengers were reservists serving with the 928th Tactical Airlift Group, an Air Force Reserve unit then based at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.