Business

The leader of Libya's armed forces, along with four other senior military officials, tragically lost their lives on Tuesday, December 23, when their business jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Ankara, according to officials from Turkey's capital and Tripoli. Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya reported that the wreckage of the Falcon 50 aircraft was found in the Haymana district, located near Ankara. Additionally, three crew members also perished in the crash. Libya's Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah expressed his grief on Facebook, stating, “It is with deep sadness and great sorrow that we learnt of the death of the Libyan army’s chief of general staff, Lieutenant General Mohammed al-Haddad.” On the same day, Haddad had met with Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler and his counterpart, Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, before heading back to Tripoli. Yerlikaya revealed on X that Haddad’s jet took off from Esenboga airport in Ankara at 8:10 PM local time (which is 1:10 AM in Singapore on Wednesday) and contact was lost 42 minutes later. The aircraft had sent an emergency landing request near Haymana, which is 74 kilometers from Ankara, but attempts to reestablish contact failed. A high-ranking Turkish official noted that the plane had reported an electrical failure just 16 minutes after takeoff, prompting the request for emergency landing. The jet was carrying eight people in total, including Haddad, four members of his team, and three crew members. Burhanettin Duran, head of the presidency’s communications department, stated on X that they had informed air traffic control about the emergency due to the electrical issue. In response to the incident, Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc mentioned that the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office has initiated an investigation.