Savannah plane crash: At least nine people dead after military cargo plane comes down near airport

A US military cargo plane has crashed in Savannah, Georgia, off a highway near the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport.

The nine crew members on board when the plane when it crashed at 11.30 am died.

Chatham Emergency Management and the Savannah Fire Department said the crash occurred near the intersection of Highway 21 and Crossgate Road. There has been no impact to airport operations at this time some flights have been impacted by it, authorities confirmed via Twitter.

Roads surrounding the scene have been closed and the public is advised to stay away from the area as large plumes of smoke are being released from the crashed plane. It is not yet known what kind of cargo the plane was carrying but the Ms Bamba told CNN that the plane originated in Carolina, Puerto Rico.

The "Hercules" cargo plane belonged to the US Air Force's Air National Guard 156th Air Wing based on the island. The 165th Airlift Wing based in Savannah was responding to the crash and said in a Facebook post that the "plane was performing a training mission".

A witness works near the airport told CNN that "the ground shook like a bomb was going off" when the plane crashed. Another witness Mary Hennessy Cogar told the outlet that her office building in Chatham, Georgia "shook and the lights flickered. We heard a boom of the crash and then a louder boom of the explosion".

The Federal Aviation Administration has not commented on the crash because it is a military incident.

A photo tweeted by the Savannah Professional Firefighters Association showed the tail end of a plane and a field of flames and black smoke with emergency personnel nearby.

The only part of the plane that remained intact was the tail section, Chris Hanks, the assistant public information officer with the Savannah Professional Firefighters Association told the Associated Press. The tail section was sitting on Highway 21 and the ground in front of it was black and littered with debris, he said.

According to the US Air Force website, the C-130 aircraft flies "weather reconnaissance" missions and "is a high-wing, medium-range aircraft flown by the Air Force Reserve Command for weather reconnaissance missions. The aircraft penetrates tropical disturbances and storms, hurricanes and winter storms to obtain data on movement, size and intensity....The WC-130J carries a minimal crew of five: pilot, co-pilot, navigator, aerial reconnaissance weather officer and weather reconnaissance loadmaster".

Just days ago on 24 April another US Air Force plane crashed in Arizona. An F-16 Fighting Falcon from Luke Air Force Base, Arizona crash-landed near the California border. Luckily, the pilot had ejected safely in that incident and no other passengers were on board.