A Turkish military cargo plane crashed in eastern Georgia on Tuesday, resulting in the deaths of all 20 military personnel on board, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced Wednesday. The C-130 aircraft was en route from Azerbaijan back to Turkey when the incident occurred.
Turkish authorities have released the names and photographs of the deceased. However, the cause of the crash remains under investigation. Initial reports on Tuesday indicated that twenty servicemen were on board the aircraft. The ministry confirmed on Wednesday that there were no survivors.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the plane departed from Ganja, a city in western Azerbaijan, and was headed towards Turkey. The crash occurred shortly after the aircraft entered Georgian airspace on Tuesday afternoon. The wreckage was discovered a few kilometers from the Azerbaijani border.
Witness accounts and video footage depict the plane descending in a circular motion, leaving a trail of white smoke before crashing and emitting thick black smoke. Parts of the aircraft appeared to disintegrate mid-air.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan alluded to “martyrs” earlier on Tuesday, although he did not specify the number of casualties at that time.
Georgian authorities have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash to determine its cause. The C-130 Hercules is a U.S.-manufactured military transport aircraft developed by Lockheed Martin. It has been widely used since the 1950s for military and humanitarian transport missions.
DZWatch will continue to provide updates as this story develops.
