A private jet carrying Libya’s military chief, four other officers and three crew members crashed after takeoff 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 cooperation 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.”
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, much like Libya’s institutions.
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Search-and-rescue operations following the crash of a Libya-bound business jet carrying Libyan Chief of Staff Lt Gen Mohammad Al Haddad and colleagues about two kilometres south of Kesikkavak village in the Haymana district of Ankara. AFP -
Mustafa Elgelaib, Libyan ambassador to Turkey, looks to his mobile phone as search-and-rescue operations continue at the wreckage site following the crash of the Libya-bound plane that had just left Ankara. AFP -
Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler, right, and Libya's Chief of the General Staff Lt Gen Mohammed Al Haddad during their meeting in Ankara on Tuesday December 23. AFP -
Turkish soldiers clear journalists and bystanders from the wreckage site as search operations continue. Getty Images -
Turkish rescue teams search for the remains of a private jet carrying Libya's military chief and four others that crashed after taking off from Ankara, killing all on board. AP -
A tractor at the wreckage site as rescuers continue their work following Tuesday's crash. AFP
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-type business jet had been found near the village of Kesikkavak, in Haymana, a district some 70 kilometres south of Ankara.
Earlier on Tuesday evening, Turkey’s air traffic controllers said they lost contact with the plane, which was en route back to Libya, after takeoff from Ankara's Esenboga airport.
Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) has since set up a mobile co-ordination centre at the site as operations continue to secure the area and recover remains.
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, 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.
Libya’s Government of National Unity has declared three days of national mourning in honour of the victims.
