A Turkish Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft has crashed in Georgia near the Azerbaijani border. The aircraft was carrying at least 20 people, with authorities at this stage confirming there are multiple fatalities.
Footage shows the doomed aircraft spiraling towards the ground after breaking into multiple pieces midair. Authorities are now at the crash scene and are investigating the cause of the deadly accident.
Turkish C-130 Crashes In Georgia
The military transport disappeared from radar shortly after entering Georgian airspace en route from Azerbaijan to Turkey. The C-130E reportedly did not transmit a distress signal before crashing in the Sighnaghi area of the Kakheti region, around three miles from Georgia’s eastern border with Azerbaijan. Turkey’s Defence Ministry has stated that there were 20 Turkish personnel onboard the aircraft, but did not confirm if there were any others onboard.
|
Date |
11 November 2025 |
|
Aircraft Type & Reg |
Lockheed C-130E Hercules (68-01609) |
|
Operator |
Turkish Air Force |
|
Departure |
Ganja International Airport (GNJ) |
|
Destination |
Erkilet International Airport (ASR) |
|
Status |
Crashed near the Georgia–Azerbaijan border following in-flight breakup |
However, local Azerbaijani media have stated that there were also Azerbaijani personnel onboard the plane, which was returning to Turkey when it crashed. Combined search and rescue efforts managed to pinpoint the location of the aircraft at around 17:00 local time on Tuesday, with a Turkish investigation team later arriving at the site.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said,
“We are deeply saddened to learn that one of our C-130 military aircraft, en route from Azerbaijan to our country, has crashed near the Georgia-Azerbaijan border.”
Midair Catastrophe
Video footage of the plane shows it caught in a flat spin after a midair break-up, sending thick black smoke into the sky after making contact with the ground. It had apparently lost the forward section of its fuselage, as well as other pieces seen separating from the aircraft during its descent.
According to Flightradar24, the plane was flying from Ganja International Airport in Azerbaijan to Erkilet International Airport in Turkey. Under call-sign TUAF543, it departed Ganja International Airport at 10:19 UTC before passing into Georgian airspace less than 20 minutes later. It was at a cruising altitude of FL240 until its final ADS-B signal was received at 10:49.
At this stage, what happened to the aircraft remains speculative until investigators can determine a probable cause. The accident bears similarities to a US Marine Corps KC-130 crash from back in 2017. This aircraft entered a flat spin after a blade failure ripped through the fuselage during flight, leading to the forward fuselage separating from the aircraft, with all 16 passengers onboard killed.
About The Aircraft Involved
The aircraft involved in this accident was a 57-year-old Lockheed C-130E Hercules registered as 68-1609. It had been flying under the Turkish Air Force for around 15 years, having been delivered in 2010, and was previously in service with the Royal Saudi Air Force.
Flightradar24 reports that the aircraft had been flying regularly in the weeks preceding the crash. Its last flight prior to the accident was a flight from Kayseri to Ganja on the morning of the crash. Turkey has a total of 18 examples of the C-130 in its fleet, consisting of both the C-130B and C-130E models. The aircraft that crashed was a C-130E and had recently been modernized with new avionics and navigation systems.
Turkey has operated the C-130 since the 1960s, making it one of the world’s earliest operators of the type outside the US. The country has invested in modernizing its C-130 fleet under the ERCIYES project, helping the transport to remain as the country’s primary military lifter. However, Turkey will be replacing its C-130 with the C-130J Super Hercules, recently reaching a deal to acquire 12 former Royal Air Force (RAF) airframes.