Libya’s Military Chief, 7 Others Killed In Plane Crash In Turkey

International

pti-PTI

A
private
jet
carrying
Libya’s
military
chief,
four
other
officers
and
three
crew
members
crashed
on
Tuesday
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
officials,
saying
in
a
statement
on
Facebook
that
the
“tragic
accident” took
place
as
the
delegation
was
returning
home.

The
prime
minister
called
it
a
“great
loss”
for
Libya.
Al-Hadad
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.
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,
advisor
to
the
chief
of
staff,
and
Mohammed
Omar
Ahmed
Mahjoub,
a
military
photographer
with
the
chief
of
staff’s
office.

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
(about
43.5
miles)
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.
Turkish
Interior
Minister
Ali
Yerlikaya
said
in
a
social
media
post
that
the
plane
took
off
at
8:30
pm
and
that
contact
was
lost
40
minutes
later.
The
plane
issued
an
emergency
landing
signal
near
Haymana
before
all
communication
ceased,
Yerlikaya
said.

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.
While
in
Ankara,
al-Haddad
had
met
with
Turkish
Defence
Minister
Yasar
Guler
and
other
officials.
The
airport
in
Ankara
was
temporarily
closed,
and
several
flights
were
diverted
to
other
locations.

Turkey’s
Justice
Ministry
said
four
prosecutors
have
been
assigned
to
investigate
the
crash,
as
is
common
in
such
incidents.
According
to
a
government
statement
on
Facebook,
Libya
will
send
a
team
to
Ankara
to
work
with
Turkish
authorities
on
investigating
the
crash.
Libya
plunged
into
chaos
after
the
country’s
2011
uprising
toppled
and
killed
longtime
dictator
Moammar
Gadhafi.

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.
Tuesday’s
visit
by
the
Libyan
delegation
came
a
day
after
Turkey’s
parliament
approved
to
extend
the
mandate
of
Turkish
troops
serving
in
Libya
for
two
years.
Turkey
deployed
troops
following
a
2019
security
and
military
cooperation
agreement
that
was
reached
between
Ankara
and
the
Tripoli-based
government.