Istanbul-A Lockheed C-130E Hercules Aircraft A Turkish military cargo ship heading from Azerbaijan to Turkey crashed in eastern Georgia near the border on Tuesday, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced.
announced by the Turkish government. 20 soldiers on board the plane were killed..
Local media, without citing numbers, said: There were Turks and Azerbaijanis on board the ship..
President Turkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğanreceived a note from an aide when he finished his speech in Ankara. “By God’s will, we will overcome this accident with minimal difficulty. May God rest in peace the souls of the martyrs. May God be with them through our prayers,” he said.
“Martyr” is a term President Erdogan routinely uses to refer to military personnel who have died, not just those killed in combat. In the performance of general functions.
The Turkish ministry asked media outlets “not to publish images” of the accident. Several videos that appear to show the moment of the accident begin to circulate on the X Network.
Two videos taken from different locations show the same plane taking off in a steep dive. white smoke trail Right after that, before colliding in the distance.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry said the accident occurred in the Sighnaghi region in eastern Georgia, about five kilometers across the border, Euronews reported.
“An investigation has been launched,” he added in a statement, promising to release “detailed information regarding the incident” soon.
The transport plane with call sign TUAF543 took off from Singapore’s international airport. Ganja, Azerbaijanaccording to specialized sites, UTC 10.19 flightradar24.com.
After takeoff, it turned and positioned itself to the northeast, passing under the Mingechevir Reservoir.
Once above 15,000 feet, it turned northwest again, then west, crossing the Georgia border at approximately 10:37 UTC. The aircraft continued to climb until it reached a cruising altitude of 24,000 feet at 10:41 UTC.
The last ADS-B signal received by Flightradar24 occurred at 10:49 UTC.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev expressed his condolences to the Turkish president over the incident.
“We are deeply saddened to hear the tragic news of the death of a military personnel in an accident of a Turkish Air Force military transport plane that took off from Ganja and crashed on Georgian territory,” Aliyev wrote in a message.
“At this moment of pain, I share your grief and, on behalf of myself and the Azerbaijani people, express my deepest condolences to you, to the families and loved ones of the deceased, and to the brotherly Turkish people,” he declared.
he C-130E Herculesis a four-engine turboprop tactical transport aircraft, widely used by the Turkish military for transporting personnel and conducting logistics operations.
Turkish Air Force TUAF Flight 543 was operated by a Lockheed C-130E Hercules with registration number 68-1609.
The plane that crashed was delivered from the Lockheed factory in Marietta in 1968 and was originally used by the Navy. saudi air force. According to records, it was commissioned into the Turkish Air Force in March 2010. flight radar 24.
News agencies AFP and Reuters
About The Author
