U.S. military plane crashes with 3 on board

CHALDOVAR, Kyrgyzstan — An American military refueling plane carrying three crew members crashed Friday in the rugged mountains of Kyrgyzstan, the Central Asian nation where the U.S. operates an air base key to the war in Afghanistan.

There was no word on the fate of the KC-135 crew as darkness fell and the search for them was suspended for the night. Cargo planes do not have ejector seats. Officials at the U.S. base said they had no information yet on the cause of the crash.

The plane crashed at 2:55 p.m. near Chaldovar, a village 100 miles west of the U.S. Transit Center at Manas base outside the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. Pieces of the plane, including its tail, were scattered across in a grassy field bordered by mountains; the air was infused with the heavy stench of fuel.

The plane was on a refueling mission for Afghanistan war operations at the time of the crash, a U.S. defense official in Washington said.

The front section of the aircraft has not yet been found, nor have searchers found the flight recorders from the plane, which was badly burned in the crash.

The search for the crew will resume this morning and the crash site will remain under guard.

One resident of the agricultural and sheep-grazing area said the plane exploded in flight.

The U.S. base, which is adjacent to Manas International Airport outside Bishkek, was established in late 2001 to support the international military campaign in Afghanistan. It functions as an interim point for troops going into or out of Afghanistan.

The Manas base has been the subject of a contentious dispute between the United States and its host nation.=