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Turkey on Wednesday said 20 of its soldiers were killed when a military transport plane crashed in Georgia a day earlier, marking the NATO member’s deadliest military incident since 2020.
The C-130 cargo aircraft left Azerbaijan for Turkey and crashed in Georgia on Tuesday, leaving chunks of twisted metal strewn across a grassy knoll.
Ankara has not provided a reason for the crash, but said Turkish and Georgian authorities started inspections at the site, located in the Sighnaghu municipality of Georgia’s Kakheti district early Wednesday.
Footage from the site near the border with Azerbaijan showed ambulances, firetrucks and army vehicles in the area around the burned fuselage, with search-and-rescue teams scanning the grounds.
Unverified social media videos on Tuesday showed the plane breaking apart in the air and then corkscrewing toward the earth in a blaze.
On Wednesday, the Turkish Defence Ministry released a list of the 20 soldiers who were killed.
On Tuesday, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency quoted the Georgian aviation authority as saying that contact with the plane was lost a few minutes after it had entered Georgia’s airspace. The plane had not issued a distress signal, it said.
C-130 military cargo planes are widely used by Turkey’s armed forces for transporting personnel and handling logistical operations.
Turkey and Azerbaijan maintain close military cooperation.
The leaders of Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, have all conveyed condolences. Tom Barrack, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, has also expressed his country’s solidarity with Turkey after the crash.
Turkish Defence Minster Yasar Guler on Tuesday spoke to his Georgian and Azerbaijani counterparts, as well as Azerbaijan’s chief of staff, to discuss search and rescue operations.
Reliable carrier aircraft
U.S. firm Lockheed Martin LMT.N, which makes the C-130 Hercules that is widely used by air forces around the world, expressed its condolences and said it was committed to helping Turkey in any way during the investigation.
The C-130 Hercules is a cargo, troop and equipment carrier aircraft. It is described as a four-engine, turboprop military transport aircraft that can make use of unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings.
Its versatile airframe has enabled it to be used for other purposes as well, including as a gunship and for airborne assault and reconnaissance operations. It is now viewed as one of the main tactical airlifters for many militaries.
Old fleet
Some analysts have said footage and images indicate the plane broke apart mid-flight, adding that Turkey’s fleet of C-130s is old and in need of renewal, despite the aircraft’s reliability.
“The footage appears to show the tail section separating in-flight and fuel streaming from the wingtip valves, suggesting the crew may have been dumping fuel for an emergency landing,” said Jarrod Phillips, a former U.S. Air Force C-130 specialist.
FlightRadar24 and two Turkish defence analysts said the plane that crashed was 57 years old and had entered the Turkish Air Force in 2010.
