A BUSINESS jet carrying five people, including a top army general, has crashed.
Footage shows a flash of light across the sky moments after contact with the plane was lost.
Turkish authorities have confirmed Libya’s army chief of staff Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad was a passenger on the plane that crashed shortly after takeoff from Ankara, killing everyone on board.
Al-Haddad was returning from an official trip from the Turkish capital alongside the commander of Libya’s ground forces, the director of its military manufacturing authority, an adviser to the chief of staff and a photographer.
Officials in Libya said contact with the plane was lost about half an hour into the flight because of a technical malfunction.
It took off from Ankara’s Esenboga Airport at 5.10pm en route to Tripoli.
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The jet requested an emergency landing while over Ankara’s Haymana district, about 75 kilometres from Ankara, but no further contact was established.
Flight tracking data showed other aircraft being diverted away from Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport as emergency protocols were activated.
Wreckage of the Falcon 50 type business jet has been found by Turkish security personnel in the Haymana district near Ankara, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.
The airport in Ankara has been closed and several flights have been diverted to other locations.
Turkey’s Justice Ministry said four prosecutors have been assigned to investigate the crash, a routine step in such incidents.
Libya’s UN-backed Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah said the tragic incident was a great loss for Libya.
“It is with deep sadness and great sorrow that we learnt of the death of the Libyan army’s chief of general staff,” a statement read on social media.
Haddad was the top military commander in western Libya.
He played a crucial role in the UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military, which has split much like Libya’s institutions.
Turkey’s defence ministry had earlier announced Al-Haddad’s visit, saying he met Defence Minister Yaşar Güler, his Turkish counterpart Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, and other senior commanders.
The others on the aircraft were Al-Haddad’s adviser Mohammed Al-Assawi, as well as Major General Al-Fitouri Ghraibil, Major General Mohammed Jumaa, and their escort Mohammed Al-Mahjoub.
The crash occurred a day after Turkey’s parliament passed a decision to extend the mandate of Turkish soldiers’ deployment in Libya by two more years.
Nato member Turkey has militarily and politically supported Libya’s Tripoli-based, internationally recognised government.
In 2020, it sent military personnel there to train and support its government and later reached a maritime demarcation accord, which has been disputed by Egypt and Greece.
In 2022, Ankara and Tripoli also signed a preliminary accord on energy exploration, which Egypt and Greece also oppose.
However, Turkey has recently switched course under its “One Libya” policy, ramping up contacts with Libya’s eastern faction as well.