Video footage captures the moment a Turkish C-130 transport plane broke apart mid-air before crashing in Georgia on Tuesday, killing 20 soldiers, according to Turkish authorities. The aircraft, which had departed from Azerbaijan, went down in Georgia's Kakheti district, near the Azerbaijani border.
Emergency teams arrived at the site early Wednesday, finding twisted metal and burning wreckage scattered across a grassy hill. Turkey's Defence Ministry confirmed joint inspections with Georgian and Azerbaijani officials are ongoing, while Lockheed Martin (the plane's manufacturer) offered assistance in the probe.
Preliminary footage suggests the 57-year-old aircraft suffered structural failure, with its tail section detaching mid-flight. The C-130 Hercules, a widely used military airlifter, has been part of Turkey's fleet since 2010. Ankara recently signed a deal to acquire newer C-130J models from the UK to modernize its air transport operations.
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