A private jet carrying Libya’s Chief of Army Staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad, crashed in Turkey on Tuesday, killing him and seven others on board after reporting an electrical fault and requesting an emergency landing, Turkish authorities have confirmed.
The Dassault Falcon 50 jet departed Ankara’s Esenboga Airport at approximately 5:17 pm GMT en route to Tripoli. Just 16 minutes later, air traffic control was alerted to a serious electrical malfunction.
According to Burhanettin Duran, head of Turkey’s communications directorate, the aircraft requested an emergency landing at 5:33 pm GMT. Air traffic control immediately redirected the plane back toward Esenboga Airport and activated emergency protocols. The jet disappeared from radar at 5:36 pm GMT while descending, with all contact lost shortly afterward. Its wreckage was later found near Kesikkavak village in Haymana district, south of Ankara.
Turkey’s Interior Minister, Ali Yerlikaya, who visited the crash site, confirmed that search and rescue teams recovered the cockpit voice recorder at 2:45 am and the flight data recorder at 3:20 am on Wednesday. Analysis of both devices has begun.
Libya’s internationally recognised government confirmed that those killed included Al-Haddad and four members of his entourage, along with three crew members. Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah described the chief of staff’s death as “a great loss for the nation,” noting the shockwaves the tragedy has sent through the country’s fragile political and security landscape.
Libya, divided between rival administrations in the east and west since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, declared three days of national mourning and ordered flags flown at half-mast. Mohammed Al-Menfi, head of the Tripoli-based Presidential Council, announced that the deputy chief of staff would temporarily assume Al-Haddad’s duties to maintain continuity in the military hierarchy.
Al-Haddad, a native of Misrata, was appointed chief of staff in 2020 amid efforts to unify Libya’s fragmented armed forces. The jet, leased and registered in Malta, will be a focal point of the ongoing investigation, including ownership records and maintenance history.
Turkish authorities have confirmed that all relevant agencies are involved in probing the cause of the crash, as both nations seek answers on how a routine flight turned deadly within minutes.
