Nato military plane crash in Georgia kills all on board

It's Turkey's deadliest military incident since 2020

Turkey has confirmed that all 20 of its soldiers died after the Lockheed C-130E Hercules crashed near the Georgia-Azerbaijan border.

The Turkish defence ministry has since said an investigation has been launched over the cause of the plane crash yesterday (Tuesday, 11 November).

It's Turkey's deadliest military incident since 2020, per Metro.

Videos have been circulating on X, allegedly showing the aircraft’s final moments.

The Republic of Türkiye Ministry of National Defence then wrote on X: “One of our C-130 military cargo aircraft, which was taking off from Azerbaijan to come to our country, has crashed at the Georgia-Azerbaijan border.

“Search and rescue operations have begun in coordination with the authorities of Azerbaijan and Georgia. It is respectfully announced to the public.” It is currently unclear how many crew members were on board the aircraft at the time.

The incident was also identified by FlightRadar24, who put out a post on X which read: “We’re following reports of a Lockheed C-130E Hercules, belonging to the Turkish Air Force, that is suspected to have crashed in Georgia, close to the border of Azerbaijan.

“Evidence points to the aircraft being TUAF543, which departed Ganja Airport in Azerbaijan at 10:19 UTC. This is unconfirmed data.”

They later posted an update on X saying that Turkish and Georgian authorities had confirmed the crash.

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, addressed the disaster in a speech yesterday: "God willing, we will overcome this crash with minimum hardships. May God rest the souls of our martyrs, and let us be with them through our prayers."

Officials have not confirmed the reason for the crash, though Turkey and Georgia are cooperating in the investigation.