The Turkish defence ministry has announced that 20 of its soldiers were killed when a C-130 military transport plane crashed in Georgia yesterday, Tuesday November 11th. All but one of the bodies were recovered.
The C-130 cargo aircraft left Azerbaijan for Turkey and crashed in Georgia’s Signaghi municipality near the Azerbaijan border, leaving a mess of twisted metal strewn across an area of grassland. A reason for the crash has not yet been provided, but Turkish and Georgian authorities have started to investigate the site.
The C-130 Hercules, which is used widely by air forces around the world, is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft capable of operating from unprepared runways. Its versatile airframe allows for cargo, troop and equipment transport, airborne assault and reconnaissance missions, making it a mainstay tactical airlifter for many militaries.
Unverified videos on social media showed the plane breaking apart in the air and then corkscrewing downwards toward the earth on fire. The images appear to show the tail section separating in-flight and fuel streaming from the wingtip valves. Flight data sources and analysts report that the plane was 57 years old. The images of the plane breaking apart mid-flight will ferment criticism that Turkey's fleet of C-130s is old and in need of renewal, despite the aircraft's reliability. However, there are many aircraft flying worldwide that are around the age of this C-130 plane, and old aircraft are invariably very well maintained.
Last month, the Turkish Defence Ministry unveiled an agreement with Britain to procure 12 C-130J aircraft. The planes being purchased are to undergo maintenance and modernisation in Britain before beginning their service for Turkey.
In an accident in 2017, a U.S. KC-130T Hercules plane crashed in Mississippi, killing all 16 people on board. Witness accounts at the time said the aircraft came down while on fire in a flat spin. The incident report said the cause was improper repairs on a corroded propeller blade, leading to a failure.
Update on November 14th, 2025
The Turkish defence ministry has announced that the black box, which contains the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Data Recorder (CVDR), is now in Ankara for analysis.
The flight was carrying a 10-person maintenance team for Turkish F-16s that had earlier taken part in Victory Day celebrations in Azerbaijan, as well as the flight crew and maintenance equipment. The model, which is used widely by air forces around the world, is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft capable of operating from unprepared runways.
At a briefing in Ankara yesterday, the defence ministry said the crashed plane was bought from Saudi Arabia in 2012 and started flights in 2022 after undergoing modernisation. Since then it was regularly used and serviced, the ministry said, with its last maintenance one month ago. Turkey's 18 C-130 planes have now been grounded, with all flights suspended pending inspections after the incident, the ministry added.
According to information currently available, it would appear that something happened to the aircraft very rapidly. The pilots did not have time to call for a May Day, and there is no indication of them using the transponder to call for an emergency as well. The plane immediately went into a free fall.
Experts have commented that to see an airplane falling in the manner it did, split into three pieces but with the wing still in one piece, is exceptionally rare. They believe that some catastrophic event must have occurred to cause this. A mid-air explosion is possible, but it is unclear what could have prompted this.