Turkish authorities have found no signs of external interference or explosives on the military C-130 cargo plane that crashed on the Georgia-Azerbaijan border last November, prosecutors in Ankara said Friday.
The Military Crimes Investigation Bureau continues its probe into the C-130 aircraft, which crashed in Georgia’s Kakheti region on Nov. 11, 2025. The crash resulted in the deaths of 20 soldiers, marking the NATO member's highest military death toll since 2020. The plane had departed from Azerbaijan en route to Türkiye.
C-130 aircraft are widely used by Türkiye’s armed forces for transporting personnel and logistics. Following the crash, Ankara suspended flights by its C-130 fleet.
“No shrapnel traces or damage from ammunition detonations were found,” the Gendarmerie General Command’s criminal report said. “No traces of explosions from handmade devices, or any explosives and their components, were found. No fire-starting petroleum derivatives or fire-accelerating substances were detected, and no suspicious chemicals were identified in elemental analysis.”
Meanwhile, the Air Force Command continues its investigation, with full cooperation from Georgian authorities. Forensic examinations of the 20 soldiers’ remains have been completed, and investigators are reviewing digital materials as a preliminary report is prepared ahead of the final report.
Months after the incident, a Turkish F-16 jet crashed shortly after takeoff in western Balıkesir province in late February, killing the pilot. The Defense Ministry said the jet had been dispatched on a rapid response mission to investigate an unidentified radar contact near the Bulgarian border.
