DANIELLE DINDAK. WLWT. NEWS 5. DANIELLE, THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE UPDATE THERE. IN OTHER NEWS, TONIGHT, A LOCAL COMMUNITY GRIEVING ONE OF ITS OWN. CAPTAIN COURTIS ANGST WAS AMONG THE SIX AIRMEN WHO DIED LAST WEEK IN AN AIRCRAFT OVER WESTERN IRAQ. ANGST WAS A WILMINGTON, WILMINGTON NATIVE WHO SPENT HIS LIFE CHASING HIS DREAM OF FLYING AND SERVING HIS COUNTRY. WLWT NEWS FIVE’S KAREN JOHNSON LIVE IN WILMINGTON TONIGHT WITH HOW THE 30 YEAR OLD IS BEING REMEMBERED. HI, KAREN. GOOD EVENING. HEARTS ARE HEAVY TONIGHT HERE IN WILMINGTON, WHERE CAPTAIN COURTIS IS BEING REMEMBERED FOR HIS SERVICE AND SACRIFICE THAT TOOK HIM HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD. THE SMILE SHOWS UP IN JUST ABOUT EVERY PHOTO, WHETHER IN A COCKPIT, TRAVELING OR BESIDE HIS WIFE, MARY. LOVED ONES, SAY CAPTAIN COURTIS ANGST CARRIED THAT SAME JOY EVERYWHERE HE WENT. THE 30 YEAR OLD WILMINGTON NATIVE WAS ONE OF SIX SERVICE MEMBERS KILLED WHEN A KC 135 AIRCRAFT CRASHED DURING AN AIR FUELING MISSION OVER WESTERN IRAQ LAST WEEK. THE FALLEN SERVICE MEMBERS WERE PART OF THE 121ST AIR REFUELING WING, BASED AT RICKENBACKER AIR FORCE BASE IN COLUMBUS. AS SOON AS WE SAW THE RICKENBACKER, I WORRIED PERSONALLY THAT MAYBE IT WAS SOMEBODY LOCAL. LAST YEAR, MEMBERS OF ANGST UNIT TRAINED AT THE WILMINGTON AIR PARK. RECONNECTING WITH A COMMUNITY WHERE MILITARY AVIATION HAS LONG BEEN PART OF LOCAL HISTORY. KIND OF A NOSTALGIC VISIT, PROBABLY FOR SOME OF THE AIR PEOPLE, AND CERTAINLY WAS FOR WILMINGTON. WHAT WAS ONCE A PROUD HOMECOMING NOW CARRIES NEW PAIN, AND THE LOSS FEELS PERSONAL ANGST. WAS A 2014 GRADUATE OF WILMINGTON HIGH SCHOOL, A DISTRICT WHERE HIS MOTHER STILL WORKS. GAVE UP TWO LIVES. REALLY THE ONE HE’S LIVING OR WAS LIVING NOW AND THEN. THE FUTURE LIFE THAT HE WOULD HAVE WITH HIS FAMILY. AND IT’S SO PAINFUL WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT BECAUSE YOU RELATE TO YOUR OWN FAMILIES. AND IT COULD HAVE BEEN ANYBODY, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, IT WAS COURTIS AND OUR HEARTS ARE JUST BROKEN FOR HIM AND HIS FAMILY. SAYS THIS AIRMAN DIED DOING WHAT HE LOVED MOST FLYING AND SERVING ALONGSIDE PEOPLE HE CARED ABOUT DEEPLY. AND WILMINGTON’S MAYOR DOES KNOW THE ANGST FAMILY PERSONALLY. FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS HAVE NOT YET BEEN SET. AS FOR THE CRASH ITSELF, MILITARY PERSONNEL CONTINUE TO INVESTIGATE TO TRY AND DETERMINE A CAUSE. REPORTING LIVE TONIGHT IN WILMINGTON, KAR
Wilmington community mourns servicemember killed in Iraq aircraft crash
Updated: 5:46 PM EDT Mar 16, 2026
Wilmington is mourning the loss of Captain Curtis Angst, a 30-year-old native who was one of six service members killed in a KC-135 aircraft crash during an air refueling mission over western Iraq last week.The smile of Captain Angst is a constant presence in photos, whether in a cockpit, traveling, or beside his wife, Mary. Loved ones say he carried that same joy everywhere he went. Captain Angst was part of the 121st Air Refueling Wing, based at Rickenbacker Air Force Base in Columbus.Mayor Patrick Haley of Wilmington expressed his concern upon hearing the news. “As soon as I saw it was Rickenbacker, I worried personally that maybe it was somebody local,” he said.Last year, members of Angst’s unit trained at the Wilmington Air Park, reconnecting with a community where military aviation has long been part of local history. “Kind of a nostalgic visit probably for some of the air people, and it certainly was for Wilmington,” Haley said.What was once a proud homecoming now carries new pain, and this loss feels personal. Angst was a 2014 graduate of Wilmington High School, a district where his mother still works. “He gave up two lives, really. The one he’s living or was living, and the future life that he would have with his family,” Haley said. “It’s so painful when you think about it because you can relate to your own families, and it could have been anybody, but unfortunately it was Curtis, and our hearts are just broken for him.”Angst’s family says this airman died doing what he loved most: flying and serving alongside the people he cared deeply about. Funeral arrangements have not been announced, and military officials continue to work to determine what caused the crash.
WILMINGTON, Ohio —
Wilmington is mourning the loss of Captain Curtis Angst, a 30-year-old native who was one of six service members killed in a KC-135 aircraft crash during an air refueling mission over western Iraq last week.
The smile of Captain Angst is a constant presence in photos, whether in a cockpit, traveling, or beside his wife, Mary. Loved ones say he carried that same joy everywhere he went. Captain Angst was part of the 121st Air Refueling Wing, based at Rickenbacker Air Force Base in Columbus.
Mayor Patrick Haley of Wilmington expressed his concern upon hearing the news. “As soon as I saw it was Rickenbacker, I worried personally that maybe it was somebody local,” he said.
Last year, members of Angst’s unit trained at the Wilmington Air Park, reconnecting with a community where military aviation has long been part of local history.
“Kind of a nostalgic visit probably for some of the air people, and it certainly was for Wilmington,” Haley said.
What was once a proud homecoming now carries new pain, and this loss feels personal. Angst was a 2014 graduate of Wilmington High School, a district where his mother still works.
“He gave up two lives, really. The one he’s living or was living, and the future life that he would have with his family,” Haley said. “It’s so painful when you think about it because you can relate to your own families, and it could have been anybody, but unfortunately it was Curtis, and our hearts are just broken for him.”
Angst’s family says this airman died doing what he loved most: flying and serving alongside the people he cared deeply about. Funeral arrangements have not been announced, and military officials continue to work to determine what caused the crash.