Libyan army chief killed in jet crash: Initial cause revealed

The Libyan army chief, Gen Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, was killed in a jet crash in Turkey as confirmed by the Libyan prime minister on Wednesday.

Initially the cause of the fatal incident was unknown. Recently, according to Turkey’s head of communications, the private jet carrying Libya's chief of army staff reported an electrical failure, as reported by Reuters.

Soon after reporting the electrical malfunction, the jet requested an emergency landing shortly before crashing near Ankara, said by Burhanettin Duran in a statement.

According to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, the investigatory authorities also recovered a voice recorder and black box from a private jet.

The Dassault Falcon 50 jet took off from Ankara’s Esenboga Airport at 17:17 GMT on Tuesday en route to Tripoli and at 17:33 GMT, the crew informed air traffic control of an emergency caused by an electrical malfunction. 

After receiving the request, Air traffic control redirected the aircraft back towards Esenboga Airport and emergency measures were taken.

Unfortunately, the jet disappeared from radar at 17:36 GMT and contact was lost.

Later, the plane's destroyed wreckage was found in the south-west of Ankara near Kesikkavak village.

As a result of the tragic mishap, eight people, including three crew members, died in the air crash, as reported by Libyan and Turkish officials.

Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, the prime minister of the country's internationally-recognised Government of National Unity (GNU), called the mishap a “great loss” for the nation.

Gen Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad and his team were in Turkey for bilateral talks, aiming to strengthen security and military cooperation between the two countries.