A Turkish military transport plane, with 20 passengers on board, has crashed in neighboring Georgia after taking off from Azerbaijan, another neighboring country, bound for Turkey, the Ministry of Defense in Ankara reported last night.
“Georgian search and rescue teams arrived at the wreckage of the plane at 17:00 (14:00 GMT). The wreckage has been secured for examination by our accident investigation team,” the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“Our accident investigation team is currently heading to the area. The cause of the accident will be determined by that team after a detailed examination of the remains,” added the note, issued this Tuesday afternoon, which places the impact in the town of Sighnaghi.
He already informed her this morning that there are no survivors.
Turkish television broadcast images of the accident throughout the day, without giving more details about possible victims or the cargo.
“God willing, we will overcome this tragedy with the minimum possible losses. May God have mercy on our martyrs,” the Turkish president, the Islamist, said during a speech in Ankara.
According to Turkish media, the damaged aircraft was a four-engine turboprop military transport plane designed and manufactured by the American company Lockheed Martin.
This type of aircraft, in service with the Turkish Air Force since 1963, has the capacity to transport up to 74 fully equipped soldiers or between 15 and 20 tons of cargo, depending on its version.
