Search teams in Turkey recovered cockpit voice and flight data recorders from a jet crash on Wednesday that killed eight people.
The Turkish interior minister stated that the crash killed eight people, including a western Libyan military chief, while efforts were still underway to recover the victims’ remains.
A private jet carrying General Muhammad Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, four other military officers and three crew members crashed after taking off from the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Tuesday.
killing all on board. Libyan officials said the cause of the crash was a technical failure on the plane.
The high-level Libyan delegation was returning to Tripoli after holding defence talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told journalists at the crash site that debris was scattered over an area of three square kilometres (more than a square mile).
complicating recovery efforts. He said Turkish Forensic Medicine Authority officials were working to recover and identify the remains.
He said a delegation of 22 people, including five family members, arrived from Libya early Wednesday to assist in the investigation.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah, based in Tripoli, confirmed the deaths on Tuesday, describing them on Facebook as a “tragic accident” and a “huge loss” for Libya.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a telephone call with Dbeibah, during which he expressed his condolences and expressed sadness over the deaths, his office said.
The Turkish leader later expressed his condolences during a televised speech, expressing solidarity with Libya.
Erdogan said, “We have launched an investigation into this tragic incident that deeply saddens us, and our ministries will provide information on its progress.”
Al-Haddad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a key role in the ongoing war. UN-mediated efforts to unify the Libyan army, which, like other institutions in the country, has become divided.
The four other military officers who died in the crash were General al-Fittouri Gharbil, the head of the Libyan ground forces, and Brigadier General Al-Fitouri.
General Mahmoud al-Qatawi, who headed the Military Construction Authority, and Mohammed al-Asawi Diab, an advisor to the Chief of Staff, were also among the deceased.
and Mohammed Omar Ahmed Mahjoub, a military photographer from the Chief of Staff’s office.
The identities of the three crew members were not immediately released.
Turkish officials said the Falcon 50-type business jet took off from Ankara’s Esenboga Airport at 8:30 p.m. Contact with the aircraft was lost approximately 40 minutes after takeoff.
The aircraft reported an electrical failure to air traffic control and requested an emergency landing. The aircraft was flown back to Esenboga, where preparations for its landing began.
However, the plane disappeared from radar while descending for an emergency landing, Türkiye’s Presidential Communications Office said.
The Libyan government declared three days of national mourning.
The government announced on Facebook that all state institutions will fly flags at half-mast.
The debris was found near the village of Kesikkavak in the Hemana district, about 45 miles south of Ankara.
At the crash site, search and recovery teams stepped up their operations on Wednesday after heavy rain and fog overnight, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The Gendarmerie police sealed off the area, while the Turkish disaster management agency, AFAD, set up a mobile coordination centre. Due to the muddy terrain, special vehicles such as tracked ambulances were deployed.
Turkey has appointed four prosecutors to lead the investigation, and Yerlikaya said Turkish search and recovery teams included 408 personnel.
