Pentagon identifies airmen killed in Afghanistan crash

The Pentagon on Wednesday identified the two airmen killed in a plane crash in Afghanistan earlier this week.

Air Force Lt. Col. Paul Voss, 46, of Yigo, Guam, and Capt. Ryan Phaneuf, 30, of Hudson, N.H., died Monday when their Bombardier E-11A aircraft crashed in Ghazni Province, inside Taliban territory.

The cause of the crash is under investigation, though there are no suspicions that enemy fire caused the accident, according to U.S. Forces Afghanistan.

Voss was assigned to Headquarters Air Combat Command at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., while Phaneuf was assigned to the 37th Bomb Squadron at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. Both were supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.

U.S. Forces Afghanistan said a day earlier that the remains of the two men were found “near the crash site” and that officials recovered what is believed to be the aircraft flight data recorder.