A Turkish Air Force Lockheed C-130E Hercules, a military transport class aircraft, has crashed in Georgia, close to the border of neighboring Azerbaijan. The crash has been confirmed by both Turkish and Georgian authorities.
The transport aircraft, using call-sign TUAF543, departed Ganja International Airport (GNJ) in Azerbaijan at 10:19 UTC. After departure, it turned left and eventually positioned itself on a northeasterly track, passing the Mingechevir Reservoir beneath. While passing 15,000 feet, it again turned, this time onto a northwesterly heading before finally setting course west, passing the Georgian border at 10:37 UTC. The aircraft was in a continuous ascent until reaching its cruising altitude of 24,000 feet at 10:41 UTC.
The last ADS-B signal received by Flightradar24 occured at 10:49:20 UTC. Data suggests a rapid descent during the last documented seconds of flight, with recorded vertical speed indications exceeding 19,000 ft per minute.
The video below purportedly shows the aircraft spiraling down from the sky, amidst white smoke emanating from the wing tips. It appears as if both the front section, housing the flight deck, as well as the entire tail end of the aircraft (commonly referred to as the empennage) had been severed.
Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense has communicated that 20 military personnel were on board, as reported by The Associated Press. Turkey’s Defence Minister Yaşar Güle has confirmed that all 20 onboard were killed in the crash.
Flightradar24 playback of the recorded flight path of TUAF543 can be found here.
