ANKARA — A Turkish military C‑130 cargo plane with 20 personnel on board crashed in Georgian airspace on Tuesday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said, as fears over casualties are growing.
“A C‑130 military cargo aircraft, departing from Azerbaijan toward our country, has crashed near the Georgia-Azerbaijan border,” the ministry said in a statement. “Search and rescue operations have begun in coordination with Azerbaijani and Georgian authorities.”
Authorities have not provided details on the cause of the crash.
A widely circulated video from the crash site appears to show the plane spiraling as it fell, with white smoke rising from its wings.
The crash occurred near the eastern Georgian town of Sighnaghi, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Georgia-Azerbaijan border, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a statement issued around 4:30 p.m. local time. The ministry added that an investigation had been launched into the incident.
According to Azerbaijani media outlets, the aircraft had departed from the northwestern Azerbaijani town of Gence.
Georgian Interior Minister Gela Geladze and a search and rescue team reached the crash site at around 5:00 p.m. local time, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said following a phone call with his Georgian counterpart later on Tuesday.
“Search and rescue efforts are continuing,” Yerlikaya wrote on X.
Authorities have not provided details on the cause of the crash, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to the incident as an “accident.”
“We learned [of the crash] with deep sadness,” Erdogan said in a televised speech in Ankara. “May God have mercy on our martyrs.”
“God willing, we’ll come out of this accident with as little loss as possible,” he added.
In addition to Yerlikaya, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also spoke with his Georgian counterpart, Maka Botchorishvili, to discuss the ongoing search and rescue efforts.
Botchorishvili also conveyed condolences to Fidan, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.
The Turkish Air Force has roughly 20 C-130 Hercules in its inventory.
The C‑130 Hercules, a four-engine turboprop transport aircraft, is widely used for military cargo, troop transport and humanitarian missions. It is known for its ability to take off from rough airfields and carry heavy payloads over long distances.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
