Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler said Monday that analyzing the black boxes from the C-130 military cargo plane that crashed on the Azerbaijan-Georgia border last week will take a minimum of two months, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting, Güler said the process of decoding the devices and reaching initial findings “will take at least two months.”
All 20 people on board the military cargo plane that crashed in Georgia on its return from Azerbaijan died. The plane had taken off from Ganja Airport in western Azerbaijan on November 11 but crashed shortly after crossing the border into eastern Georgia, the defense ministry said after the incident.
Investigators recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorders one day later, which were brought to Ankara for examination.
Asked about early indications, Güler said preliminary assessments, which were not “final,” suggest the aircraft’s tail may have detached before the rest of the plane broke into three parts.
“These will be determined through the black boxes. They are currently being examined by Turkish Aerospace Industries,” he said.
Video filmed by eyewitnesses and circulated by Azerbaijani media showed the aircraft spinning as it fell, with large pieces of debris breaking off mid-air. The footage has fueled online debate about the cause of the in-flight breakup, with some users speculating about possible sabotage or a projectile.
Güler added that Turkey has been flying C-130s since 1957. “There was an engine fire once in 1999, but the aircraft landed safely. In general, they are reliable planes,” he said.
Turkey suspended flights by its C-130 military cargo fleet as a precaution one day after the accident.
The aircraft was transporting personnel and aircraft maintenance supplies and was not carrying ammunition, according to the ministry.
Azerbaijan’s Report news agency said those on board included maintenance specialists for F-16 fighter jets that took part in Victory Day military parade in Baku on November 8, which marked Azerbaijan’s win in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The parade was attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as well as Turkey’s foreign and defense ministers and intelligence chief.
The ministry said the C-130 had been purchased from Saudi Arabia in 2012 and added to the Turkish Air Force inventory in 2014 after maintenance and upgrades. It was modernized and returned to service in 2022.