U.S. Military Jet Crashes

A U.S. military refueling plane crashed and burst into flames Wednesday night in northwestern Germany, killing four people aboard, the U.S. military said.

The KC-135 when down shortly before 9 p.m. near Geilenkirchen, a town 125 miles northwest of Frankfurt, according to reports.

The plane's home base was Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane, Wash., and was one of two planes and three crews sent to Geilenkirchen on Jan. 3 to support refueling missions of NATO AWACs planes, base spokesman Maj. Mark Brown said.

He confirmed that four people aboard were killed, but declined to release their identities pending notification of relatives.

The four-engine plane, modeled on the Boeing 707, can carry up to 200,000 pounds of fuel.

German and Dutch firefighters were fighting the blaze at the crash site. No civilians on the ground were injured, Germany's Defense Ministry said.

The plane was attached to the Washington Air National Guard 141st Air Refueling Wing, based at Fairchild.