Air Force to investigate Afghan civilian deaths as JBLM-based C-17 took off from Kabul airport

A Monday security breach at the airport in Kabul led to a deadly encounter between desperate people seeking to flee the Taliban and a C-17 aircraft from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, according to an Air Force statement released Tuesday.

The C-17 had just landed with a load of equipment at the Hamid Karzai International Airport when it was suddenly surrounded by hundreds of Afghan civilians. Before cargo could be offloaded, the crew was “faced with a rapidly deteriorating situation, the crew decided to depart the airfield as quickly as possible,” according to the statement from Ann Stefanek, chief of media operations for the Air Force.

Stefanek cited online video that depicted people falling from the aircraft after it departed, and said that human remains also were found in the wheel well of the aircraft after it landed at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. It is currently impounded to provide time to collect the remains and inspect the aircraft.

“Our hearts go out to the families of the deceased,” Stefanek said in the statement, which stated that an investigation is now underway to understand how the events unfolded.

An Air Force spokesperson confirmed that the C-17 that was involved in the incident bore the markings of the 62nd Airlift Wing and 446th Airlift Wing. Those airlift wings are part of Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The 446th Airlift Wing supports global operations, and its missions in the past have included aeromedical support and dropping humanitarian supplies in Afghanistan.

Pentagon officials, in briefings with reporters, have said that airport operations were shut down after the security breach.

Since then, military aircraft have resumed landings and takeoffs as part of a mission, in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, to evacuate U.S. citizens and Afghans eligible for Special Immigrant Visas.