US Military Cargo Plane Crashes in Georgia

An Air National Guard C-130 cargo plane crashed Wednesday near an airport in Savannah, Georgia, the Air Force confirmed to CBN News.

Officials said the plane crashed onto state highway 21 moments after taking off from the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. 

A Department of Defense spokesperson said the military plane involved in the crash is from Puerto Rico.

Authorities said the plane was being flown to Arizona for retirement by a crew of nine Puerto Ricans. There were no survivors. 

“It miraculously did not hit any cars, any homes,” Effingham County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Gena Bilbo said. “This is a very busy roadway.”

Eight hours after the crash, she told The Associated Press: “To our knowledge, there are no survivors.”

The plane was more than 60 years old, said Isabelo Rivera, Adjutant General of Puerto Rico’s National Guard.

“The planes that we have in Puerto Rico -- it’s not news today that they are the oldest planes on inventory” of all National Guard planes nationwide, Rivera told the AP. Puerto Rico’s National Guard has five other similar planes, two of which need maintenance and aren’t being used, he said.

It’s too early to say what might have caused the accident, he said. The plane last received maintenance at the base in Savannah in April.

The U.S. territory’s Gov. Ricardo Rossello expressed his sadness, tweeting that “our prayers are with the families of the Puerto Rican crew.”

President Donald Trump tweeted that he had been briefed on the crash, and sent “thoughts and prayers for the victims, their families and the great men and women of the National Guard.”