From Air Force Magazine:
E-11A Reportedly Crashes in Afghanistan
The military is investigating reports that a USAF E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node crashed Jan. 27 in Afghanistan.
The Air Force maintains a small presence of four E-11 aircraft at Kandahar Airfield, which is used as a bridge between communication devices for forces on the ground. US Central Command told Air Force Magazine it is aware of the reports of the crash and is investigating. More information will be released when available. A message left for Resolute Support in Kabul was not immediately returned.
Information on the number of personnel on board or their status was not immediately available.
Reports from other news sources are that there are no survivors from the crash. The cause is currently undetermined although the Taliban are claiming to have brought it down. It will likely be some time before there is much more definite information.
The E-11A is based on a commercial small jet aircraft, the Bombardier Global Express. Its mission as a Battlefield Airborne Communications Node is critical. It’s like a flying WiFi hot spot — Cell Tower that makes it possible for troops on the ground to communicate when ground to ground transmissions would be blocked by the mountainous terrain.
The BACN (referred to as “Bacon”) aircraft allows units to keep in contact, link to other units, share data, and bridge between comm systems that otherwise can’t talk to each other. To the best of my knowledge they are unarmed; their payload is communications gear, operators, and the flight crew. The basic mission is to spend a lot of time flying in circles over areas where they are needed to keep communications links working.
This hits too close to home for me. A family member had flown that particular aircraft when last deployed to Afghanistan; they may have known the crew that was lost. My heart goes out to the friends and family members of the crew and to all the others still serving there and elsewhere in harm’s way.
UPDATE: Air Force Magazine has updated the story at the link. Among the additional information is this:
“There are no indications the crash was caused by enemy fire,” US Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Col. Sonny Leggett said in a statement. “Taliban claims that additional aircraft have crashed are false.”
What did bring the aircraft down has yet to be determined. Fox News is cited as reporting 5 people were aboard the plane. A video link included with the update shows the crash scene; the aircraft appears to be relatively intact, suggesting that it was still under control when it impacted the ground. That is only a hypothesis at this point however.