Plane crashed in Turkey, Erdogan: investigation opened. Among the victims the Libyan Chief of Staff Al-Haddad
The Prime Minister of the UN-recognised Libyan government of national unity, Abdulhamid Dbeibah, said he had received news of the death of the Libyan army chief of staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad,
Turkey has announced that the black box of the jet that crashed yesterday with the head of the Libyan Armed Forces and his four staff on board will be analysed in a neutral country. "The analysis of the voice recorder and flight data recorder to determine the cause of the plane crash will be carried out in a neutral country" after an initial examination, Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on X.
On Wednesday morning, search teams in Turkey recovered cockpit voice recorders and flight data related to Tuesday's plane crash near Ankara in which eight people died, including Libyan chief of staff, Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, as reported by Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The Libyan delegation was returning to Tripoli after holding defence talks in Ankara aimed at strengthening military cooperation between the two countries. The Turkish interior minister told reporters at the scene that the wreckage was scattered over an area of three square kilometres (more than one square mile), complicating recovery operations. Turkish forensic authorities are still working to recover and identify the remaining victims, he added. Libyan officials also said that the cause of the crash was a technical failure of the aircraft.
Erdogan, 'air crash investigation launched'
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced the opening of an investigation into the crash of the plane carrying a Libyan military delegation, which was 'deeply saddening'. This was reported by the Anadolu news agency. During a meeting of the Akp, his party, Erdogan expressed condolences to the 'brotherly Libyan people', the armed forces and the government over the death of the chief of staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad, and other members of the delegation on board the crashed aircraft. The Falcon 50 jet, which took off from Ankara's Esenboga airport bound for Tripoli, was found about 2 kilometres south of Kesikkavak in the Haymana district.
The accident report
The Falcon 50 business jet, tail number 9H-DFJ, carrying a Libyan delegation of five people including Libyan Chief of Staff Mohammed al-Haddad crashed on Selamalmaz hill, 2 kilometres south of Kesikkavak village in Haymana district near Ankara. "The remains of the plane that took off from Ankara Esenboğa Airport bound for Tripoli were found by our Gendarmerie 2 kilometres south of Kesikkavak village in Haymana district". This was confirmed Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya on X.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya informed X that the plane, a Falcon, which took off from Ankara with destination Tripoli, "lost contact at 20:52". "An emergency landing report was received from the aircraft near Haymana; however, contact with the plane could not be re-established afterwards," he explained. "On board the plane are five passengers, including the Chief of Staff of Libya, General Sayin Muhammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad," he added.
