Daijiworld Media Network - Ankara
Ankara, Dec 27: Turkish authorities, along with Libyan officials, have launched a detailed investigation into the crash of a private jet near Ankara that killed Libya’s army chief Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad and seven others.
The probe, coordinated by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, is examining technical evidence, flight recordings, crew activity and aircraft maintenance records. France’s civil aviation investigations agency, BEA, has also joined the investigation, officials said.
General al-Haddad was in Ankara for official talks and had met his Turkish counterpart Selcuk Bayraktaroglu and Defence Minister Yasar Guler before the incident. The French-made Dassault Falcon 50 aircraft took off from Ankara’s Esenboga Airport at 2.17 pm on Tuesday, heading for Libya.
According to officials, the jet reported an electrical malfunction around 16 minutes into the flight and requested an emergency return to the airport. Radar contact was lost at 2.41 pm while the aircraft was descending for landing, leaving only a brief two-minute window between the emergency alert and the crash.
The aircraft went down near Kesikkavak village in the Haymana district, about 70 km south of Ankara. The crash site has been sealed off by Turkish security forces, and all wreckage, including the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, has been secured for analysis.
Authorities said forensic examinations of the bodies were completed early Saturday, following which the remains of General al-Haddad and the other victims were repatriated to Libya after a ceremonial farewell at an airbase outside Ankara.
As part of the investigation, specialists are analysing air traffic control recordings, radar data and airport security camera footage. Officials are also reviewing communication logs between pilots and the control tower, the crew’s medical and rest records, aircraft maintenance logs, fuel samples and local weather data at the time of the crash.
Former Turkish Air Force intelligence chief Gursel Tokmakoglu described the incident as a “multinational case”, citing the involvement of multiple countries in the aircraft’s manufacture, operation and investigation. He said it was too early to conclude that the reported electrical malfunction caused the crash, noting that such failures can trigger a chain of other problems.
Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu earlier said the aircraft’s black boxes could be sent abroad for further analysis to ensure transparency. Aviation analysts said the investigation is being conducted in line with international aviation norms, which require a preliminary report within 30 days and a final report within 12 months.
There are no indications so far of an external cause such as an explosion, officials said, adding that the technical investigation is ongoing.