ALBAWABA - A Turkish government official informed Al Jazeera late Tuesday that all five individuals on a private plane, including Libya's Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Muhammad Ali al-Haddad, perished when the aircraft vanished shortly after departing Ankara. The source confirmed that the wreckage and the bodies had been found by rescue teams.
Turkish media outlets indicated that security personnel arrived at the crash site and established a perimeter, verifying that the Libyan aircraft had gone down shortly after taking off. In Tripoli, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah confirmed the deaths of al-Haddad and his delegation. They were killed while returning from an official trip to Turkey.
Earlier, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya revealed that contact with the aircraft was severed at 17:52 GMT, approximately forty minutes post-departure. The plane had signaled for an emergency landing, citing a technical problem. Then, communication just... stopped.
NTV, a Turkish news outlet, stated that the plane's radio contact was lost while it was above Ankara. Simultaneously, live flight-tracking information indicated that air traffic was being rerouted from Esenboğa Airport. Simultaneously, people living in Haymana, a district southwest of Ankara, reported a loud explosion. Videos began appearing online, capturing a bright flash that was thought to be from that region.
Search teams, according to local officials, were scouring a remote and difficult area, the presumed crash site of the aircraft. A Turkish defense industry source subsequently reported that the plane had sent out a distress signal. The call, made shortly after takeoff, cited an electrical failure. The aircraft was attempting an emergency landing when it vanished from radar.
Lt. Gen. al-Haddad had spent the week in Ankara, where he met with Turkey's defense officials. His schedule included discussions with Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and other high-ranking military leaders.
