A Turkish military transport plane spiraled out of control and crashed near the Georgia-Azerbaijan border on Tuesday, bursting into flames after reportedly breaking apart midair.
Local media footage showed the NATO C-130 aircraft splitting in two before crashing to the ground in a massive fireball that sent thick black smoke billowing skyward.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry confirmed on X that the C-130 had taken off from Azerbaijan and was returning home when disaster struck. There were 20 people aboard, officials said, though no word yet on survivors.
Search and rescue teams were scrambling to the remote crash site in coordination with Georgian authorities, the ministry added, but released no details about the cause of the crash.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry confirmed “a Turkish military aircraft” went down “about five kilometers from Georgia’s state border” with Azerbaijan.
Screenshot (X)
Wreckage from the aircraft was seen scattered across the landscape after what witnesses described as a midair explosion. Russian pro-war Telegram channels claimed “the Turkish C-130 broke apart in mid-air, likely due to an internal explosion,” though no official evidence supports that theory.
Georgian authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the crash.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs will provide the public with detailed information about the incident in stages,’ said a government statement.
Initial reports said a helicopter was lost, but later it was reported to be a C-130, one of the world’s most widely used and longest-serving military transport aircraft
The Turkish Ministry of National Defense said: “A C-130 cargo plane taking off from Azerbaijan to our country crashed in Georgia.”
“Search and rescue efforts have been initiated in coordination with Georgian authorities.”
