A private jet carrying Libya’s military chief, four other officers and three crew members crashed on Tuesday night after take-off from Turkey’s capital, Ankara, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.
The Libyan delegation was in Ankara for high-level defence talks aimed at boosting military co-operation between the two countries, Turkish officials said.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah confirmed the death of Gen Muhammad Ali Ahmad Al Haddad and the four officers, saying the “tragic accident” took place as the delegation was returning home. The prime minister called it a “great loss” for Libya.
Syria’s Ministry of Defence on Wednesday extended condolences to Libya following the deaths, saying in a statement that it received the news “with deep sorrow and grief.”
Gen Al Haddad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military, which has split, like much of Libya’s institutions.
The four other officers who died in the crash were Gen Al-Fitouri Ghraibil, the head of Libya’s ground forces, Brig Gen Mahmoud Al Qatawi, who led the military manufacturing authority, Mohammed Al Asawi Diab, adviser to the chief of staff, and Mohammed Omar Ahmed Mahjoub, a military photographer.
The identities of the three crew members were not immediately known.
Turkish officials said the wreckage of the Falcon 50 business jet had been found near the village of Kesikkavak, in Haymana, a district some 70 kilometres south of Ankara. Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority set up a mobile co-ordination centre at the site as operations continue to secure the area and recover remains.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said search teams had recovered the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage, which was scattered across an area of about three square kilometres.
The devices were found in the early hours and have been handed over to investigators from Turkey’s Transportation Safety Investigation Centre for analysis.
Mr Yerlikaya said 408 personnel, supported by 103 ground vehicles and seven aircraft, took part in the search and recovery operation.
A 22-member Libyan delegation, including relatives of the victims and officials from Libya’s defence and interior ministries, has arrived in Ankara, he said.
Libya’s army chief of staff Gen Muhammad Ali Ahmad Al Haddad pictured in 2022. AP
Air-traffic controllers said they lost contact with the plane, which was en route back to Libya, after take-off from Ankara’s Esenboga airport.
Burhanettin Duran, the head of the Turkish presidential communications office, said the plane notified air traffic control of an electrical fault and requested an emergency landing. The aircraft was redirected back to Esenboga, where preparations for its landing began.
The plane, however, disappeared from the radar while descending for the emergency landing, Mr Duran said.
Security camera footage aired on local television stations showed the night sky over Haymana suddenly lit up by what appeared to be an explosion.
Libya plunged into chaos after the country’s 2011 uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi. The country split, with rival administrations based in the east and west, backed by an array of rogue militias and foreign governments.
Turkey has been allied with Libya’s government in the west, but has recently taken steps to improve ties with the eastern-based government as well.
Mr Dbeibah’s Government of National Unity declared three days of national mourning in honour of the victims.
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