Turkish c130 inflight break up

[markis10]

Overnight a Turkish C130E broke up in flight leaving Azerbaijan for Turkey, with wreckage located in Georgia. At least 20 persons on board. C130s are well known for fatigue issues in the wing box area and the Turkish fleet is over 50 years old. The aircraft involved was MSN 1609 delivered to the Saudis in 1968.

Georgian interior minister heads to site of Turkish military cargo plane crash - UPDATED-2

A C130 military cargo plane belonging to Türkiye, which departed from Azerbaijan for our country, crashed near the Georgia-Azerbaijan border.

report.az

Video showing the wing and seperate forward fuselage including the coughpit falling.

 

[Scarlett]

Yowsers.

An E model makes more sense and if indeed the airframe failed significantly, nothing could be done.

 

[jb747]

Overnight a Turkish C130E broke up in flight leaving Azerbaijan for Turkey, with wreckage located in Georgia. At least 20 persons on board. C130s are well known for fatigue issues in the wing box area and the Turkish fleet is over 50 years old. The aircraft involved was MSN 1609 delivered to the Saudis in 1968.

A failure of the wing box would lead to the wings clapping. This seems a bit like the US Marine aircraft that was lost after a prop chopped its way through the fuselage. Nasty, no matter the cause.

 

[markis10]

failure of the wing box would lead to the wings clapping

The wing box is intact on the video as it falls near the coughpit section, and I did read some speculation the No 3 engine prop was missing. Unlike the USMC incident however the tail section is not attached, so possibly it went first?

 

[stm1sydney]

Can a moderator please change the title of this thread to "Turkish Air Force...". Thanks.

 

[RooFlyer]

Juan Browne's discussion - references the 2017 US Marines Y72 accident - prop detachment and severing of controls etc.

 

[markis10]

Bit of a follow up on this:

The Turkish Ministry of National Defence (MND) released its most technically detailed account yet of what brought down C-130E serial 68-1609 over Georgian territory on 11 November 2025, killing all 20 personnel on board.

The MND said on 9 April 2026 that a wing-stowed life raft tearing away from its cover assembly was the the probable cause of the crash. The C-130 Hercules carries life rafts in four compartments built into the centre wing section. There are two on each side. Doors on the upper wing surface provide access to the compartments. Each raft assembly is inflated by a dedicated CO₂ cylinder, which forms an integral part of the life raft installation. These life raft compartments are located outside the pressurised fuselage zone.

The MND added that a cover assembly may have detached from the upper wing along with a CO2 cylinder. Investigators said they believe the assembly struck the left aft fuselage before hitting the vertical stabiliser.

Turkish C-130E likely crashed when life raft and cover dislodged

The Turkish Ministry of National Defence (MND) released its most technically detailed account yet of what brought down C-130E serial 68-1609 over Georgian territory on...

www.janes.com

 

[jb747]

Unusual cause.