Overview
- Lieutenant General Mohammed al-Haddad, four senior Libyan officers and three crew members were confirmed dead after a Dassault Falcon 50 crashed near Kesikkavak village in Ankara’s Haymana district.
- The jet, tail number 9H-DFJ, departed Esenboğa at about 20:10 local time, reported an electrical fault, requested an emergency landing and lost contact at 20:52 before wreckage was found by gendarmerie.
- Turkey recovered the cockpit voice and flight data recorders and opened a prosecutor-led investigation, with authorities saying early findings point to a technical failure and rule out sabotage.
- Libya’s Government of National Unity declared official mourning and sent a team to Ankara to participate in the inquiry following the deaths of al-Haddad, Gen Al-Fitouri Ghraibil, Brig Gen Mahmoud al-Qatawi, adviser Mohammed al-Asawi Diab and photographer Mohammed Omar Ahmed Mahjoub.
- The delegation had held high-level defense talks in Ankara earlier in the day, and Turkish authorities briefly closed Ankara’s airspace and diverted flights during search and recovery operations.