Plane carrying Libya’s top military leader crashes near Ankara shortly after takeoff

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that authorities have located the wreckage of a jet bound for Tripoli that crashed shortly after departing from Ankara, carrying Libya’s Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad, along with several senior military officials.

“The wreckage of the aircraft that took off from Ankara Esenboga Airport en route to Tripoli has been found by our Gendarmerie forces 2 kilometers south of Kesikkavak village in the Haymana district,” Yerlikaya said in a post on X.

According to Yerlikaya, four other officials were also on board the aircraft at the time of the crash.

The incident prompted Turkish authorities to temporarily close Ankara’s airspace while search and rescue operations were launched.

Earlier in the day, Al-Haddad, accompanied by a high-level military delegation, had met with Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler during an official visit to the Turkish capital.

Yerlikaya said contact with the aircraft was lost approximately 40 minutes after takeoff.

“Communication was lost at 8:52 p.m. with a Falcon 50 business jet, tail number 9H-DFJ, which departed Ankara Esenboga Airport at 8:10 p.m. local time for Tripoli,” he stated. “The aircraft had requested an emergency landing near Haymana, but contact could not be re-established afterward.”

Updated at 11:20 p.m.

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