A Turkish C-130 crashed in Georgia after taking off from Azerbaijan, with videos surfaced online showing parts of the aircraft spiraling towards the ground.
A Turkish Air Force C-130E Hercules has crashed in Georgia, near the border with Azerbaijan, on Nov. 11, 2025. The aircraft had taken off from Azerbaijan 20 people on board, according to the Turkish Ministry of Defense, and was on its way back to Turkey when it crashed.
🔴 The Turkish Ministry of National Defense announced that there were 20 personnel on the crashed cargo plane, including the flight crew.#Georgia #Azerbaijan https://t.co/iCDbgIyMTQ
— Mete Sohtaoğlu (@metesohtaoglu) November 11, 2025
A search and rescue operation is currently in progress, in coordination with both Azerbaijani and Georgian authorities. “Our efforts to reach the wreckage are continuing in coordination with the national authorities,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a statement. “May God have mercy on our martyrs.”
UPDATE: Turkish and Georgian authorities have confirmed the crash in Georgia of flight #TUAF543. The aircraft involved appears to be a 57 year old Lockheed C-130E Hercules, initially serving the Royal Saudi Air Force before being transferred to the Turkish Air Force in 2010. All… pic.twitter.com/VJeM4ami11
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) November 11, 2025
The causes of the crash are unclear. Unconfirmed videos emerged online show parts of the aircraft spiraling towards the ground from high altitude. Among the parts, the entire wing assembly and the front fuselage section were clearly recognizable.
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
According to open-source flight tracking, the aircraft involved appears to be the C-130E 68-01609, which was flying as “TUAF543.” The last recorded signal is in the Sighnaghi municipality, in the Kakheti region in eastern Georgia, the same where Georgian authorities said they located the crash site.
🇹🇷🇬🇪 | First images are circulating in Georgian media reportedly showing the crash site and debris of the Turkish Air Force C-130 Hercules. pic.twitter.com/9MUbfCIOP5
— Visioner (@visionergeo) November 11, 2025
Flightradar24 says the last ADS-B signal received occurred at 10:49:20 UTC, while the aircraft was at its cruising altitude of 24,000 feet. The aircraft departed Ganja International Airport (GNJ) in Azerbaijan at 10:19 UTC.
Local news outlet says that both Turkish and Azeri personnel were onboard, although this has not been confirmed officially. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev called Erdogan and discussed “the tragic news of the loss of servicemen,” according to a post following the call, without mentioning the nationalities.
This is a developing story, it will be updated once new details are available.
