Turkish C-130 Crash in Georgia: 20 Onboard | News

Turkish military transport aircraft C-130 “Hercules” crashed today on the territory of Georgiathe Ministry of Defense of Turkey announced. The car was on its way from Azerbaijan back for Turkeywhen she lost contact with air traffic control.

According to the information, the crashed car has a registration number 68-1609. The aircraft was produced for the Saudi Air Force in the distant year 1968 and around 2010 it was purchased by Turkey. This means that the plane is about 58 years old.

According to the Turkish Ministry of Defense, they were on board 20 Turkish servicemenincluding the flight crew. Local media reports that there may have been among them Azerbaijani militarybut this has not been officially confirmed.

The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev spoke with Erdogan and expressed “deep sorrow for the loss of military personnel” in the tragedy.

The Georgian Interior Ministry announced that the investigation had begun under an article of the Criminal Code related to violations in air transport and causing death.

As he was wrapping up a speech in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received a note from his aides, after which he said he was saddened to hear about the plane crash.

“God willing, we will overcome this catastrophe with minimal difficulties. May God rest the souls of our martyrs and may we be with them through our prayershe said.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said he spoke by phone with his Georgian counterpart, adding that the Georgian minister was on his way to the crash site.

According to initial data released by Azerbaijani and Turkish media, the plane took off from the Ganja military airport near Bakuhaving participated in collaborative learning between the Azerbaijani and Turkish armed forces.

Georgian media reported on loud explosion and burning debrisfound in the area of a few kilometers from rural areas in Kakheti. The video shows the plane breaking up in mid-air into three pieces, with the middle section containing the engines and wings exploding.

That’s it first recorded incident with a Turkish C-130 on the territory of Georgia. The machine is from the long-used fleet of transport aircraft of the Turkish Air Force, intended for the transport of cargo and personnel during international missions.

Turkey’s Ministry of Defense is expected to provide details after the rescue operation is complete.

After the crash of a 34-year-old MD-11 V Louisville, Kentuckyjust a few days ago, today the world witnessed another tragic incident – the mid-air disintegration of a Turkish C-130 Hercules transport aircraft over the territory of Georgia. In both cases it is about morally and technically obsolete aircraftwhose resources have long been at the limit of what is permissible.

Despite the modernizations that some of these machines have undergone over the years, experts warn that the age factor remains critical – as in relation to the structural fatigue of metalsand because of electronic systems that are often out of production support.

Analysts point out that many military and cargo operators around the world, including in NATO, continue to use aircraft that are 30, 40, and sometimes over 50 years olddue to the high cost of new models and complicated replacement procedures.

The plane C-130 “Hercules”entered service in the 1950s, remains the backbone of transport aviation in dozens of countries, but the Georgia incident has renewed the debate – how rational it is to rely on outdated equipment during intensive operation.

A similar question faces the civilian sector. After the tragedy in Louisville with the freighter MD-11mainly used by logistics giants, aviation experts insist on stricter international control over the airworthiness of old aircraftwhether military or civilian.

With a growing number of end-of-life accidents, experts are calling on aviation authorities to determine a clear deadline for the decommissioning of aircraft with an exhausted structural resource and to speed up the fleet renewal process.