MOSCOW, November 13. /TASS/. Tuesday’s C-130 aircraft crash of the Turkish Air Force may have been caused by a malfunction related to the plane’s excessive age, military expert of the RANEPA Institute of Law and National Security Alexander Stepanov told TASS.
"Turkey may have fallen victim to the 'second hand' market of the US defense industry, where some countries, instead of disposing of aging and out-of-date military equipment – including military transport aircraft – resell them to external consumers," he said. "It is often such aircraft, requiring excessive technical attention due to a combination of malfunctions and airframe fatigue, that end up crashing."
The C-130 airplane in question was manufactured in 1968. It’s one of about 2,600 C-130 aircraft produced by US-based Lockheed Martin. "It’s difficult to say how many of them are still in service. However, it’s clear that plenty of obsolete aircraft are still performing missions, jeopardizing the lives and safety of direct operators," Stepanov noted.
The C-130 aircraft of the Turkish Air Force crashed in Georgia on Tuesday en route to the Turkish airbase in Kayseri. All twenty servicemen on board died. Turkey has suspended flights of all other C-130 planes until it completes its investigation into the causes of the crash.