20 Dead as Military Cargo Plane Crashes

A Turkish military cargo plane carrying 20 people crashed in eastern Georgia on Tuesday, killing everyone on board, Turkey’s Defence Ministry confirmed on Wednesday.

The C-130 Hercules aircraft had taken off from Ganja airport in western Azerbaijan and was en route to Turkey when it went down shortly after crossing into Georgian airspace. The Defence Ministry said the passengers included both flight crew and military personnel.

Defence Minister Yasar Guler announced the deaths in a statement on X, describing the victims as “heroic comrades-in-arms” and sharing photographs of the 20 individuals who lost their lives.

Eyewitness footage published by Azerbaijani media appeared to show the aircraft spinning in mid-air with debris breaking off before it hit the ground. Georgia’s interior ministry confirmed the crash occurred in the Sighnaghi area, about five kilometres from the border with Azerbaijan.

According to Georgian authorities, the plane disappeared from radar soon after entering the country’s airspace without sending a distress signal. Emergency services later confirmed the wreckage and fatalities at the crash site.

The cause of the crash remains unknown. The C-130 Hercules, manufactured by US company Lockheed Martin, is widely used by the Turkish military for transport missions.