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Chilling video shows moment plane carrying Libyan military chief crashed in Turkey's Haymana
Visuals shared on social media captured the moment the private Falcon 50 business jet crashed near Kesikkavak in Haymana, around 70 kilometres south of Ankara.
Libya’s military chief, Gen Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, was killed along with four other officers and three crew members when their private jet crashed on Tuesday after taking off from Turkey’s capital Ankara, officials said. A purported video that has surfaced from the crash site shows the moment an explosion occurred due to a technical malfunction on the aircraft.
Visuals shared on social media captured the moment the private Falcon 50 business jet crashed near Kesikkavak in Haymana, around 70 kilometres south of Ankara.
HT.com could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.
Libya’s military chief killed in plane crash
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah confirmed that Gen Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad and four other officers died in the crash. In a statement posted on Facebook, he said the “tragic accident” occurred as the delegation was travelling back home. He described the deaths as a “great loss” for Libya.
Al-Haddad was the most senior military commander in western Libya and played a key role in United Nations-led efforts to unify Libya’s divided military at a time when the country’s state institutions remain split.
Those killed alongside him included Gen Al-Fitouri Ghraibil, head of the ground forces, Brig Gen Mahmoud Al-Qatawi, who headed the military manufacturing authority, Mohammed Al-Asawi Diab, an adviser to the chief of staff, and Mohammed Omar Ahmed Mahjoub, a military photographer attached to the chief of staff’s office.
The names of the three crew members on board were not immediately released.
How did the plane crash?
Turkish officials said the aircraft reported an electrical problem shortly after take-off and requested an emergency landing.
The jet left Ankara’s Esenboga Airport shortly after 8 pm local time and contacted air traffic control minutes later. It was then allowed to turn back towards the airport.
During the descent, the aircraft disappeared from radar and officials were unable to restore contact, the Turkish government said.
Turkey’s interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a social media post that the plane took off at 8.30 pm and that contact was lost around 40 minutes later. He added that the aircraft issued an emergency landing signal near Haymana before all communication stopped.
With inputs from agencies
