An Algerian military statement said on Tuesday that the C-130 was flying through poor weather when it crashed into a mountain shortly before it was due to land in the city of Constantine.
State television showed footage of the wreckage of the plane near the village of Ouled Gacem in eastern Algeria, smoke rising from the site and emergency crews scouring the forested area for survivors and bodies.
The defense ministry said a total of 77 people died in the crash, fewer than the 103 dead originally cited by local media.
The lone survivor - a soldier - suffered head injuries and was treated at a nearby military facility before being flown to a military hospital in the capital Algiers.
Civil defense officials at the scene said the plane broke into three parts at the snowy crash site and women and children, presumably from military families, were among the dead.
Military transports in Algeria routinely carry not only soldiers but military families visiting the army bases.
The plane had taken off from the southern Saharan city of Tamanrasset, which has a massive military presence due to its proximity to the country's unstable southern borders, and was heading to Constantine.
Algerian military planes also take on other civilians if space is available.
The presidential office announced a three-day period of mourning, calling the soldiers who had died "martyrs for the country."
In 2003, an Air Algerie jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Tamanrasset, killing 102 people.
By Ruchi Singh
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.