ALBAWABA- A Turkish Air Force C-130E Hercules transport plane crashed Tuesday in Georgia’s mountainous Kakheti region, killing all 20 personnel on board and triggering a joint investigation among Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
The four-engine aircraft, a U.S.-made Lockheed Martin C-130 had taken off from Ganja International Airport in Azerbaijan at 10:19 UTC, en route to Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey for what officials described as a routine logistics mission.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing the plane trailing thick smoke before spiraling downward and exploding upon impact near Sighnaghi Municipality, roughly 80 kilometers east of Tbilisi, close to the Azerbaijani border.
Georgian emergency teams, assisted by Azerbaijani rescuers, reached the remote crash site by dusk and confirmed there were no survivors. The wreckage was found scattered across vineyards, with debris still smoldering late into the night.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry confirmed the tragedy on X (formerly Twitter), mourning the “heartbreaking loss” but refraining from early conclusions.
Preliminary reports suggest an in-flight fire, possibly engine-related, though officials said the cause will only be determined after analysis of the aircraft’s flight recorders.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan offered “deep condolences” to the victims’ families, promising a full investigation. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called the fallen crew “brothers in arms,” pledging assistance to Ankara.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry has launched a criminal inquiry into potential negligence as investigators from all three nations converge on the scene.
