A Turkish military cargo plane carrying 20 personnel crashed near the Georgia-Azerbaijan border on Tuesday while returning from a mission in Azerbaijan, Turkey’s Defense Ministry confirmed.
All 20 personnel on board have been confirmed dead by Turkish authorities following rescue operations that found no survivors.
The C-130 Hercules aircraft disappeared from radar shortly after entering Georgian airspace, according to Georgia’s Sakaeronavigatsia air traffic control service. The plane went down in the Sighnaghi area, approximately five kilometers from Georgia’s border with Azerbaijan.
“Our C-130 military cargo plane, which took off from Azerbaijan to return home, has crashed at the Georgia-Azerbaijan border,” the Defense Ministry stated, confirming all 20 personnel on board included flight crew members.
Search and rescue operations are currently still ongoing, with Turkish authorities working closely with Georgian officials to reach the crash site. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed his condolences “for our martyrs” and confirmed Turkey’s coordination with Georgian authorities, according to state news agency Anadolu.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev extended his condolences to Turkey’s leadership via social media platform X. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also coordinated with his Georgian counterpart Maka Bochorishvili regarding the search and rescue efforts.
Dramatic footage circulating on Azerbaijani media appeared to show the aircraft spinning horizontally before impact, resulting in a large explosion and black smoke plume. Additional footage from the crash site showed burning wreckage in a field, though Turkey’s Defense Ministry has requested media outlets refrain from publishing crash imagery.
The aircraft had departed from Ganja Airport in Azerbaijan and disappeared from radar without transmitting any distress signal, according to Georgian air traffic control officials.
The C-130 Hercules is manufactured by U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin and is widely used for military cargo operations worldwide.
Ongoing investigations over the next few weeks will continue to determine the cause of the crash.
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