ANKARA, Dec. 24 — A private jet carrying senior Libyan military officials reported a technical malfunction and requested an emergency landing shortly before crashing south of Ankara, a Turkish official said on Wednesday.
Libya’s army chief of staff, Mohammed al-Haddad along with four other military officials and three crew members, were killed in the crash, authorities confirmed.
According to Burhanettin Duran, head of Turkish Directorate, of Communications, the Dassault Falcon 50 business jet informed air traffic control of an emergency caused by an electrical failure after departing Ankara’s Esenboga Airport en route to Tripoli on Tuesday evening.
“The aircraft, which had begun its descent for an emergency landing, disappeared from the radar screen at 20:36 (1736 GMT), and contact could not be re-established afterwards,” Duran said on social media.
Al-Haddad had been in the Turkish capital for high-level military talks and earlier on Tuesday met with Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler and other senior Turkish defense officials.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told a press conference on Wednesday that the aircraft’s black box had been recovered and the bodies remained in the region are undergoing forensic examination as part of a judicial investigation.
A Libyan delegation has arrived in Türkiye and will take part in the investigative process alongside Turkish officials, Yerlikaya said. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
