A private jet carrying Libya’s Chief of Army Staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad, crashed in Turkey after reporting an electrical failure, killing him and seven other occupants, Turkish authorities have confirmed.
According to Reuters, the Dassault Falcon 50 aircraft departed Ankara’s Esenboga Airport at about 5:17pm GMT on Tuesday en route to Tripoli. Roughly 16 minutes into the flight, the crew alerted air traffic control to a serious electrical malfunction and requested an emergency landing.
Turkey’s head of communications, Burhanettin Duran, said the aircraft sought permission to return to Esenboga Airport at 5:33pm GMT, prompting immediate emergency response measures. However, the jet vanished from radar at 5:36pm GMT while descending, and all communication was subsequently lost.
The wreckage was later located near Kesikkavak village in Haymana district, south of Ankara.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, who visited the crash site, disclosed that rescue teams recovered both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder early Wednesday morning. He said analysis of the black boxes had already begun as investigations continued.
Libya’s internationally recognised government confirmed that Al-Haddad and four members of his entourage were among the victims. The remaining three fatalities were crew members operating the leased aircraft.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah described Al-Haddad’s death as a profound national loss, noting its potential impact on the country’s already fragile political and security environment.
In response to the tragedy, Libya declared three days of national mourning, with flags ordered to fly at half-mast nationwide.
Mohammed Al-Menfi, head of the Tripoli-based Presidential Council, announced that the deputy chief of staff would temporarily take over Al-Haddad’s responsibilities to maintain stability within the military command.
Al-Haddad, who hailed from Misrata, about 200 kilometres east of Tripoli, was appointed army chief in 2020 as part of efforts to reunify Libya’s divided armed forces.
Officials revealed that the jet was leased and registered in Malta, adding that its ownership and maintenance records would be central to the ongoing investigation. Turkish authorities said multiple agencies are now involved in determining the cause of the crash, as Libya and Turkey seek answers to how the flight ended in disaster within minutes.
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