A private jet carrying the chief of staff of Libya’s army reported an electrical failure and requested an emergency landing shortly before crashing near Ankara, Turkey’s head of communications said on Wednesday.
Turkish search and rescue teams arrive to a crash site of a jet carrying Libya's army chief of staff Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad near Kesikkavak village, Turkey, December 24, 2025. Reuters/Cagla Gurdogan
A private jet carrying the chief of staff of Libya’s army reported an electrical failure and requested an emergency landing shortly before crashing near Ankara, Turkey’s head of communications said on Wednesday.
The Dassault Falcon 50 jet took off from Ankara’s Esenboga Airport at 1717 GMT on Tuesday en route to Tripoli and at 1733 GMT it informed air traffic control of an emergency caused by an electrical malfunction, Burhanettin Duran said in a statement.
Eight people, including three crew members, were killed in the crash, according to Libyan and Turkish officials.
Air traffic control redirected the aircraft back toward Esenboga Airport and emergency measures were initiated, but the jet disappeared from radar at 1736 GMT while descending for landing and contact was lost, he said.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya earlier said the aircraft requested an emergency landing while flying over Ankara’s Haymana district, adding that the wreckage was later found near Kesikkavak village in the area.
Search and rescue teams reached the crash site after operations were launched by Turkey's Interior Ministry and investigations into the cause of the crash were continuing with the involvement of all relevant authorities, Duran said.
Libya's internationally recognised government has said the dead included the country's army chief of staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad, and four members of his entourage.
Libyan officials have said the jet was leased and registered in Malta, adding that its ownership and technical history would be examined as part of the investigation.
Reporting by Ece Toksabay
Two arms brokers arranged illegal deals to supply ex-Soviet surface-to-air missile systems to South Sudan and fighter jets to Libya during its civil war, British prosecutors told a London court on Tuesday.
A teenager opened fire at a high school in Turkey's southeastern province of Sanliurfa on Tuesday, wounding at least 16 people including students and teachers before killing himself, the province's governor said.
Negotiating teams from the U.S. and Iran could return to Islamabad later this week, five sources said on Tuesday, days after the highest-level talks between the two countries in decades ended without a breakthrough.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.