JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — Millions have seen the stunning video of a U.S. Air Force cargo plane swarmed by people desperate to escape the Taliban. The Air Force wouldn’t confirm it, but the markings clearly identify it as belonging to the 62nd and 446th Airlift Wings stationed at Joint Base Lewis McChord.
The C-17 taxied through the Monday morning chaos at Kabul Airport with Afghans desperate to escape the Taliban clinging to the outside of the aircraft. Witnesses said a video shot after takeoff shows at least two bodies falling from high in the sky.
Today, we spotted planes with similar markings parked on the tarmac at JBLM. South Sound Rep. Derek Kilmer told us he was thinking of the flight crew.
“I have a lot of sympathy for them. I think it’s got to be difficult to see what they have seen,” Kilmer said.
Now, like many in Congress, he’s looking for answers about the rapid collapse of the Afghan army America spent billions building. Kilmer visited Afghanistan a few years ago.
“We met with some of the people who American soldiers were training, and it is hard to square what you’ve seen over the last few days with what we heard from them,” Kilmer said
While the chaos continues in Kabul, Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell is joining many in Congress to ask what went wrong.
“They have to give us an explanation of what happened here,” she said.
Late Monday, a Pentagon spokesman indicated there will be a review of the plane incident, along with all that has taken place in the sudden collapse of Afghanistan.
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