Plane Seen Evacuating Kabul Airport Stationed At JBLM: Reports

LAKEWOOD, WA — A dramatic and widely-shared video showing hundreds of Afghan citizens rushing a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane in a bid to evacuate the country and escape the Taliban has a direct tie to Western Washington.

According to both the Seattle Times and the Tacoma News Tribune, the C-17's markings indicate it is part of the 62nd Air Lift Wing, 446th, a Joint Base Lewis-McChord Air Force unit from Washington state.

The 62nd Air Lift Wing has served on other humanitarian operations in the past, including dropping rations on Afghanistan and assisting in evacuations during Hurricane Katrina.

Though the markings identify the plane as coming from JBLM, military officials have avoided directly confirming the plane's involvement for now. JBLM spokesperson Joe Piek told the News Tribune he had seen the video but could not directly comment on the incident. A 62nd Airlift Wing spokesperson also told the Tribune she could not provide any further details on the unit's mission for fear of jeopardizing operational security.

In the video, viewable on the New York Times' website, hundreds of fleeing Afghans can be seen running alongside the C-17 as it taxis down the runway of Kabul 's international airport. Some even try to cling to the plane's fuselage in a desperate attempt to be included in the evacuation. Seven people died in the chaos, including some who fell from the plane, the Associated Press reports.

According to reporters on scene, the plane's crew estimate that some 800 evacuees made it safely on board.

The mass evacuation comes as the Taliban seizes control of Kabul, shortly after American forces withdrew from the country. At a press briefing Monday, President Biden defended his decision to pull troops out of Afghanistan, but noted that the Afghan government's collapse had come sooner than anticipated.

Biden has promised U.S. troops will continue to defend evacuation efforts. 2,500 U.S. troops have been deployed to secure the airfield. Another 1,000 are on their way to assist.

Thousands of evacuees leaving Afghanistan will be made eligible for special immigrant visas, the Associated Press reports. As the News Tribune notes, some will likely settle in and around Puget Sound as they are evacuated to the West Coast, though it remains unclear exactly how many.