A Turkish Air Force C-130E cargo plane crashed Tuesday in Georgia near its border with Azerbaijan. Flight tracking data showed the aircraft was en route from Ganja, Azerbaijan, to Turkey. In a statement, the Turkish Defense Ministry said search and rescue operations began immediately in coordination with Azerbaijani and Georgian authorities.
Twenty people were aboard, the Defense Ministry said, although there are no details yet on casualties. The Georgian Interior Ministry said the aircraft went down in the Sighnaghi municipality, near the Azerbaijani border, and confirmed an investigation had been opened.
Azerbaycan medyasında çıkan haberlere göre Gürcistan-Azerbaycan sınırında Türk Silahlı Kuvvetlerine ait askeri kargo uçağının düştüğü idda ediliyor. pic.twitter.com/DcqQj7MzkO
— Derin Kuvvetler (@Derinkuvvet) November 11, 2025
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan confirmed the crash during remarks in Ankara, saying efforts were ongoing to reach the wreckage.
“We learned with deep sorrow that our C-130 military aircraft, which was coming to our country from Azerbaijan today, crashed on the Georgia–Azerbaijan border,” Erdoğan said. “May Allah have mercy on our martyrs.”
Video circulated by local outlets appeared to show parts of the aircraft spiraling down and leaving a trail of white smoke or fuel before impact.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev offered condolences to Turkey, saying the crash resulted in the deaths of Turkish servicemen.
“We were deeply saddened by the tragic news of the loss of servicemen in the crash of a Turkish Air Force military cargo plane, which took off from Ganja and crashed in Georgian territory,” Aliyev said.
𝑻𝒖𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑨𝒊𝒓 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝑪-𝟭𝟯𝟬 𝑪𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝑵𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑮𝒆𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒂-𝑨𝒛𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒂𝒊𝒋𝒂𝒏 𝑩𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓
— Global Defense Insight (@Defense_Talks) November 11, 2025
A Turkish Air Force C-130 Hercules cargo plane crashed shortly after departing from Ganja Airport in Azerbaijan while en route to Turkey, with the incident… pic.twitter.com/RxqnaZoFW5
The Georgian Air Navigation Authority stated that radar contact with the C-130 was lost shortly after it entered Georgian airspace and that no distress signals were received.
The C-130 Hercules, a four-engine turboprop widely used for personnel transport and logistical operations, remains a mainstay of the Turkish military fleet. This particular aircraft was a 57-year-old C-130E, originally in service with the Royal Saudi Air Force before entering Turkish service in 2010.
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