U.S. KC-135 tanker down in Kyrgyzstan; rescuers search for crew BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, May 3 (UPI) -- A U.S. KC-135 refueling plane carrying five people crashed in a mountainous area of Kyrgyzstan and the crew members were missing, officials said Friday. Fragments of the tanker were said to be scattered over a half-mile area, ITAR-Tass reported. A rescuer said part of a parachute had been found. Azamat Mambetov, an official of Kyrgyzstan's emergency ministry, said people reported seeing a plane disintegrate before crashing into mountains near the village of Chorbolu. "At about 3:20 [local time] we received information that a U.S. Transit Transportation Center fueling plane disappeared off the radar," Mambetov said. Shortly after this news, we got a telephone call from a resident of an area about 40 miles west of Bishkek [the capital of Kyrgyzstan], that a big explosion was heard in the local mountains. Mambetov said rescue crews were immediately sent to the area where the crash was reported. The plane had left a U.S. air base at Manas International Airport near Bishkek and was en route to Afghanistan, the Los Angeles Times reported.