Turkish Hercules crash kills 20

An older model Turkish Air Force C-130 Hercules, of the type that was lost with all 20 onboard on 11 November. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)

A Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules transport aircraft of the Turkish Air Force (TurAF) crashed on 11 November with the loss of all 20 passengers.

The Turkish Ministry of National Defense (MND) confirmed the loss of the aircraft while transiting over the country of Georgia in the Caucasus.

“A C-130 military cargo plane that took off from Azerbaijan to [Türkiye] crashed on the Georgian-Azerbaijani border. Search-and-rescue efforts have started in co-ordination with the Azerbaijani and Georgian authorities,” the MND said, later adding that 20 people had been onboard the aircraft.

The MND announcement came after footage was posted online showing the aircraft's separated wing section falling from the sky, along with photographs of the rear fuselage and ramp section and other items from the aircraft on the ground.

Online flight tracker services identified the particular aircraft as being a C-130E, serial number 68-1609. According to Planespotters.net, this aircraft was delivered new to the Royal Saudi Air Force in December 1968, before being transferred to the TurAF in November 2022.

Before this loss, the TurAF operated 13 C-130Es that date back to 1964 and six C-130Bs that, while received as surplus airframes in 1991, were built around the same time period. It is expected to receive 12 much newer surplus C-130J airframes from the United Kingdom in early 2026.

For more information on Türkiye's C-130 fleet, please see Türkiye signs C-130J support contract with Marshall Aerospace .