Six Killed As Jet Explodes -- Fire Destroys Kc-135 Tanker Being Repaired In Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE - A military tanker plane caught fire and exploded today at Mitchell International Airport, killing six ground-crew members.

The 7 a.m. fire destroyed the Air National Guard KC-135, used for in-flight refueling. It spread too fast to give anyone a chance to save the repair crew, all military men, said Col. Eugene Schmitz, 128th Refueling Group unit commander.

The KC-135 had last flown yesterday and minor electrical and electronics-system problems were being repaired, Schmitz said. The cause of the fire was unknown.

The plane had only a fraction of its normal load of fuel at the time, he said.

All that appeared to be left of the plane was the tail and a portion of the left wing. The rest was charred rubble. Two other planes near it on the ground were apparently undamaged.

"It's such a shock because we've been working on planes for 32 years and never had anything close to this," Schmitz said. "What could go wrong?"

Bob Marx, airport operations spokesman, said the airport was closed for about an hour after the explosion. The explosion occurred in a section of the airport at which the 128th refueling group is based. The force of the blasts blew out windows in houses bordering the runway.

"All of a sudden we hear a boom and the house is shaking. Then I saw flames and a lot of black smoke, billowing black smoke," said Zona Ukasick, who lives across the street from the National Guard installation. "I thought it was a building with oil barrels that had exploded."

The KC-135 is a military version of the Boeing 707.

Information from Reuters is included in this report.