Investigators have located the flight recorder of a Turkish Air Force C-130 military transport aircraft that crashed earlier this week, a significant step in determining the cause of the accident that killed 20 servicemen.

The recovery was reported by Turkey's NTV television from the crash site. The channel stated that the "black box" will be sent to Türkiye for expert analysis and decoding, a process expected to greatly accelerate the crash investigation.

A team of approximately forty Turkish specialists is already on the ground in Georgia assisting with the operation. Thus far, search and rescue teams have recovered the bodies of nineteen of the twenty Turkish servicemen who were on board the aircraft at the time of the crash on November 11.

The Turkish Ministry of Defense confirmed the aircraft had departed from Azerbaijan before it went down in Georgian territory. The exact location and circumstances of the crash have not been detailed.

Authorities from both Turkey and Georgia have launched a full investigation into the incident. While the cause of the crash remains unknown, the analysis of the newly recovered flight data and cockpit voice recorders is expected to provide critical evidence. (ILKHA)