A Turkish C-130 military plane crashed today, November 11, on the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan with 20 people on board, including the crew, while it was headed towards Turkey. The cargo plane took off from Ganja international airport, in Azerbaijan, at 2.19pm local time (11.19am Italian time): as reported by Reutersthe aircraft should have crashed in the Georgian town of Sighnaghi, in the Kakheti region, about 5 km from the border with Azerbaijan.
According to data tracked by Flightradar24at 2.41pm the C-130 reached a cruising altitude of 24,000 feet (about 7,315 metres), while the last signal was sent around 2.49pm, when the plane was traveling at around 519 km/h.
The incident was confirmed by Ankara’s Ministry of Defense, which reported that search operations are still underway, without however specifying the number of victims.
The first images taken from the scene, published on social media, show pieces of metal falling from the sky along with parts of the fuselage still on fire, which generated clearly visible dark smoke.
The aircraft was a C-130 Hercules, produced by the US company Lockheed Martin, widely used by air forces around the world and used for the transport of goods, troops and equipment. Specifically, the C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport: thanks to its versatility, in some cases it has also been used as a combat helicopter or as an aircraft for assault operations. Today, therefore, it is considered one of the main tactical transport aircraft for the armed forces of numerous countries, including the Italian Air Force.
Immediately after the incident, Turkish President Erdogan expressed his condolences for the passengers on board and their families, confirming the opening of an investigation: the dynamics of the accident, however, have not yet been clarified and the article remains under updating.
