Posted on 11/12/2025 5:21:32 AM PST by Red Badger
The Turkish Air Force C-130E went down in the country of Georgia as it was returning home from Azerbaijan.
Videos show a Turkish Air Force C-130E Hercules cargo plane falling in multiple pieces from the sky earlier today. The center fuselage with the wings still attached is notably seen spiraling straight down toward the ground. The aircraft, which tragically had 20 individuals onboard, came down in Georgia as it was flying from Azerbaijan to Turkey.
VIDEO AT LINK.................
Footage of Turkish C-130 military transport plane crashing in Georgia after taking off from Azerbaijan https://t.co/6WPtqeJKc8 pic.twitter.com/ixA67w8Ndq— Polymarket Intel (@PolymarketIntel) November 11, 2025
The C-130E went down sometime after 2:49 PM local time (10:49 PM UTC), according to data from Flightradar24. The aircraft, which had been using the callsign TUAF543, had taken off from Ganja International Airport in Azerbaijan some 30 minutes beforehand.
“After departure, it turned and positioned itself on a northeasterly track, passing the Mingechevir Reservoir beneath. While passing 15,000 feet, it again turned onto a northwesterly heading before turning west, passing the Georgian border around 10:37 UTC,” per Flightradar24. “It was in a continuous ascent until reaching its cruising altitude of 24,000 feet at 10:41 UTC.”
As noted, videos are circulating online that show the C-130E having broken apart at some point in midair. In addition to the center fuselage and wings, other large sections of the aircraft are seen falling down toward the ground. A smoke-like effect is seen emanating from the wingtips as they fall, which could be fuel and/or vapor. It then hits the ground, causing a large plume of thick black smoke to erupt.
Georgian officials say the C-130 came down approximately three miles (five kilometers) from the country’s eastern border with Azerbaijan, according to RFE/RL. Authorities have been working to get to the crash site, and the crash is under investigation. Pictures and videos said to show the wreckage are now beginning to emerge online.
“Our aircraft that crashed had 20 personnel on board, including the flight crew,” the Turkish Defense Ministry had said earlier in a statement, according to RFE/RL. “Search and rescue operations are ongoing.”
“God willing, we will overcome this crash with minimum hardships,” Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan also said during a speech in Ankara after receiving word about the crash, according to Reuters. “May God rest the soul of our martyrs, and let us be with them through our prayers.”
Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, a major Turkish ally, has also offered his condolences.
As of the start of 2025, the Turkish Air Force had a mixed fleet of 18 C-130B and E variants, according to FlightGlobal. These are both models that would have first rolled off Lockheed’s production line decades ago. For some years now, Turkey has been in the process of bringing all of its Hercules aircraft up to a modernized standard through the ERCIYES modernization program. The designations C-130BM and EM are often used to describe planes that have received the upgrades, which include improved avionics and navigation systems, as well as new cockpit displays, and more. The Turkish Hercules that went down today in Georgia had received the upgrade package, according to Scramble. Turkey also acquired this particular example second-hand from Saudi Arabia.
The three main cargo aircraft types in Turkish Air Force service today, including the C-130 at rear left. The others are the Airbus A400M, in front, and the Transall C-160, at rear right. Turkish Ministry of National Defense Earlier this year, Turkish authorities also confirmed they had purchased 12 ex-British C-130J models. The Royal Air Force officially retired the last of its C-130Js in 2023.
While there is much to learn about the crash today, the imagery of the aircraft going down and from the crash site certainly shows a devastating total loss.
We will continue to update this story with any new information that may emerge in the next 24 hours about the mishap.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com
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Or a muslim sense of maintenance …
—
There is one? Who knew.
It’s the wings of a C-130.
Those poor crew members.......
They knew they were toast when that plane landed.
Hopefully, they made their peace with God during that time.
The E model has had wing problems.
——major error-——
A much higher probability would be sabotage
I guess it was the tail that separated, not the cockpit.
Indeed. The Hercules has one of the most resiliant airframes aloft. Not like an A-10...but a tough bird.
I hope they did too, or they face a dark and lonely grave.
It happens. A US MCKC 130 Torres self apart somewhere over the south United States a couple of years ago. A firefighting model shed its wings, there have been other accidents. But yes. They do tear themselves apart. Usually maintenance is the culprit. And this is an e-model, they are currently on the J model I believe. This was not a new one.
See post #14. It appears everything in front of the wings plus the tail section with part of the fuselage fell off.
It also has a link to a similar incident with a USMC C-130 from 2017.
“If Allah desires the airplane to fly, it will fly.”
https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-sad-story-of-tanker-130-the-c-130-whose-wings-fall-off-during-the-2002-fire-season/
Aloha wills it.
That’s the one. Here’s another.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_United_States_Marine_Corps_KC-130_crash
More likely the case. Look at Iran, they’re out of water and don’t have the intelligence to build desalination plants.
Iran could buy desalination technology … from Israel.
That Marine Corps KC-130 crash was due to a separated propeller blade that threw the engine out of balance. The propeller and gear reduction unit tore out and cut through the fuselage, separating the forward part of the aircraft. The wings remained attached to the rear portion.
The C130 ranks as one of the most reliable aircraft ever made. How could it just break apart? Poor maintenance not detecting cracks or other structural issues? How about help from the inside where a crew member was in a hurry to get his 72 virgins?
“As God is my witness, I thought Turks could fly.”
Arthur Carlson, WKRP
Maybe the Iranians would be fearful of poisonous chemicals released in the water being sucked into the desalination plant.
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