Turkiye suspends C-130 flights after fatal plane crash

Istanbul: Turkiye suspended flights by its C-130 military cargo planes as a precautionary measure a day after one crashed in neighbouring Georgia, killing all 20 people on board, the defence ministry said Thursday.

The plane crashed on Tuesday while returning home from Azerbaijan, with the victims' bodies due to be repatriated on Thursday, the ministry said.

"Flights by our (C-130) planes have been suspended as of November 12, 2025," a ministry statement said, adding that operations would resume once all planebs had undergone detailed technical inspections and safety checks.

The plane took off from Ganja airport in western Azerbaijan on Tuesday afternoon but crashed shortly after crossing the border into eastern Georgia, the ministry said at the time.

Turkiye has not said what caused the incident, but dramatic footage taken by eyewitnesses and published by Azerbaijani media appeared to show the plane spinning horizontally alongside several bits of debris as it fell.

"The cause of the incident will be clarified following a detailed investigation by the accident investigation team," the ministry said.

"We are continuing our efforts to reach a conclusion as soon as possible."

Investigators have recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorders -- the plane's black boxes -- which have been brought to Ankara for examination, the ministry said.

The plane was carrying personnel and aircraft maintenance supplies, it said, stressing there was "no ammunition onboard".

Azerbaijani Report news agency on Wednesday said among those on board were maintenance specialists for F-16 fighter jets that had taken part in Saturday's military parade in Baku when Azerbaijan celebrated Victory Day -- marking its triumph in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The event was attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his foreign and defence ministers and his intelligence chief.

The defence ministry said the C-130 had been purchased from Saudi Arabia in 2012, and was added to the Turkish air force inventory in 2014 after maintenance and upgrades.

It was modernised and put into service in 2022.

"It has been in service with regular maintenance since then. Contrary to some claims, it was not decommissioned by its previous operator but was a surplus aircraft," the ministry said.