Update2: E-11A crew identified

An Air Force E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) aircraft crashed Jan. 27 in Afghanistan, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein confirmed. There was no official word on the status of the aircrew. The E-11A went down in a Taliban-controlled area of Ghazni Province, north of its operating base at Kandahar Airfield. The aircraft is assigned to the 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron. “There are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire,” U.S. Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said in a statement. “Taliban claims that additional aircraft have crashed are false.” The AF maintains four E-11s at Kandahar. The aircraft operate as “Wi-Fi in the sky,” according to one of the pilots; and was developed as an operational need after communication shortfalls during Operation Red Wings in Afghanistan in 2005. FOX News reported five crewmen were aboard. E-11 crews come from other airframes and fly the plane for the first time while deployed, according to a 2018 AF storyline. (Source: AF Magazine 01/27/20) https://www.airforcemag.com/e-11a-reportedly-crashes-in-afghanistan/ UPDATE: The remains of the two crew members aboard the E-11A aircraft that crashed in Afghanistan were recovered Jan. 28, a defense official confirmed. A defense official confirmed to Air Force Magazine that two only people were onboard. “The remains were found near the crash site, treated with dignity and respect by the local Afghan community, in accordance with their culture,” U.S. Forces-Afghanistan said in a statement. The aircraft’s flight data recorder was recovered. The aircraft was then destroyed. DoD will release the names and service details of those killed, once the families are informed. UPDATE2: DoD identified the two airmen killed in the Jan. 27 crash of an E-11A in Afghanistan. The crash killed Lt. Col. Paul K. Voss, 46, of Yigo, Guam, and Capt. Ryan S. Phaneuf, 30, of Hudson, N.H. Voss was the operations division branch chief at HQ of the Air Combat Command at JB Langley-Eustis, Va., according to a recent Air Force release. Phaneuf was assigned to the 37th Bomb Squadron at Ellsworth AFB, S.D. (Source: AF Magazine 01/29/20)