ANKARA, Turkiye: Search teams in Turkiye on Wednesday recovered the cockpit voice and flight data recorders from a jet crash that killed eight people, including western Libya’s military chief, while efforts to retrieve the victims’ remains were still underway, Turkiye’s interior minister said.
The private jet carrying Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad Al-Haddad, four other military officials and three crew members crashed on Tuesday, after taking off from Turkiye’s capital, Ankara, killing everyone on board. Libyan officials said that the cause of the crash was a technical malfunction on the plane.
The high-level Libyan delegation was on its way back to Tripoli after holding defense talks in Ankara aimed at boosting military cooperation between the two countries.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told journalists at the site of the crash that wreckage was scattered across an area covering 3 square kilometers (more than a square mile), complicating recovery efforts. Authorities from the Turkish forensic medicine authority were working to recover and identify the remains, he said.
Libyan officials arrive to assist
A 22-person delegation — including five family members — arrived from Libya early on Wednesday to assist in the investigation, he said.
Tripoli-based Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah confirmed the deaths on Tuesday, describing the crash on Facebook as a “tragic accident” and a “great loss” for Libya.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a telephone call with Dbeibah, during which he conveyed his condolences and expressed his sorrow over the deaths, his office said.
“An investigation has been launched into this tragic incident that has deeply saddened us, and our ministries will provide information about its progress,” Erdogan said.
General was pivotal in efforts to bring Libyans together
Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, UN-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military, which has split, much like the nation’s other institutions.
The other military officials who died in the crash were Gen. Al-Fitouri Ghraibil, the head of Libya’s ground forces, Brig. Gen. Mahmoud Al-Qatawi, who led the military manufacturing authority, Mohammed Al-Asawi Diab, adviser to the chief of staff, and Mohammed Omar Ahmed Mahjoub, a military photographer with the chief of staff’s office.
The identities of the three crew members weren’t immediately released.
Turkish officials said that the Falcon 50-type business jet took off from Ankara’s Esenboga airport at 8:30 p.m. and that contact was lost around 40 minutes later. The plane notified air traffic control of an electrical fault and requested an emergency landing. The aircraft was redirected back to Esenboga, where preparations for its landing began.
The plane, however, disappeared from radar while descending for the emergency landing, the Turkish presidential communications office said.
Libya observes three-day national mourning
The Libyan government declared a three-day national mourning with flags flown half-staff at all state institutions, according to an announcement on Facebook.
The wreckage was found near the village of Kesikkavak, in Haymana, a district about 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of Ankara.
Search and recovery teams intensified their operations on Wednesday after a night of heavy rain and fog, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Gendarmerie police sealed off the area while the Turkish disaster management agency, AFAD, set up a mobile coordination center. Specialized vehicles, such as tracked ambulances, were deployed because of the muddy terrain.
Turkiye has assigned four prosecutors to lead the investigation, and Yerlikaya that said the Turkish search and recovery teams included 408 personnel.
‘Neutral’ country to examine flight recorders
Turkiye’s Transportation Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said the cockpit voice and flight data recorders would be sent to a neutral third country for examination, in order to ensure impartial findings on the cause of the crash.
While in Ankara, Al-Haddad had met with Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler and other officials.
Libya plunged into chaos after the country’s 2011 uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi. The country split, with rival administrations in the east and west, backed by an array of rogue militias and foreign governments.
Turkiye has been the main backer of Libya’s government in the west, but has recently taken steps to improve ties with the eastern-based government as well.
Tuesday’s visit by the Libyan delegation came a day after Turkiye’s parliament approved a two-year extension of the mandate of Turkish troops serving in Libya. Turkiye deployed troops following a 2019 security and military cooperation agreement that was reached between Ankara and the Tripoli-based government.
