A Lockheed C-130 Hercules military plane has crashed on the outskirts of Savannah, Georgia, killing all nine people on board. Photos shared on social media show a black column of smoke billowing from the wreckage.
An official from Georgia Air National Guard said at least five people were killed in the crash, the AP reports. A statement from the National Guard said the plane, from the Puerto Rico Air National Guard, was involved in a training mission at the time.
The Savannah Professional Firefighters Association identified the aircraft as a C-130 Hercules military airplane.
The plane crashed near Gulfstream Road and Highway 21 in Port Wentworth.
The incident took place close to Savannah airport and approximately 10 miles from Hunter Army Airfield at around 11.30a.m. Wednesday. Roads in the surrounding area have been closed and there are significant delays to flights at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport.
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine military transport aircraft which has been in production since the 1950s.
In a message posted on Twitter, US President Donald Trump expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the crash.
Eyewitness Mark Jones told the Savannah Morning News that he noticed the plane flying low in the air and moments later saw it explode as it crashed.
“I could see [the plane] above the tree line and it looked kind of low like it was curving in toward [the] street, but I see them all the time, so I didn’t think anything of it,” he said.
“I looked down and then looked back up and it didn’t look like it nosedived, but it almost looked like it stalled and just went almost flat right there in the middle of the highway.”
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