Turkish authorities have recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the private jet that crashed on Wednesday, killing the head of Libya’s armed forces, Lieutenant General Mohammed al-Haddad, along with four of his aides.
The Falcon 50 aircraft had requested an emergency landing shortly after taking off from Ankara due to an electrical failure, but contact was later lost, according to Turkish officials. The jet was en route back to Tripoli after official engagements in the Turkish capital.
Security personnel later located the wreckage in the Haymana district near Ankara. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, who spoke to reporters at the crash site, confirmed that both the voice recorder and the flight data recorder, commonly known as the black box, had been found.
“The examination and evaluation processes of these devices have been initiated,” Yerlikaya said.
Haddad and four members of his entourage were returning from meetings with Turkish military officials in Ankara. Eight people were on board the aircraft, including three crew members.
Libya’s Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah expressed “deep sadness and great sorrow” following the death of the army chief.
Yerlikaya said recovery efforts were ongoing, noting that the bodies remained within a crash area spanning roughly three square kilometres. He added that a 22-member Libyan delegation, including five relatives of the deceased, had arrived in Ankara.
“We pray for God’s mercy upon those who lost their lives in this tragic accident and extend our condolences to their families,” the minister said.
According to him, 408 personnel drawn from Turkey’s disaster management agency AFAD, the police and health services were deployed to the scene, while drones were being used to transmit real-time images from the area.
Turkish officials also confirmed that the Ankara prosecutor’s office had opened a formal investigation into the crash.
Speaking on the possible cause, Tolga Tuzun Inan of Istanbul-based Bahcesehir University said a single electrical failure would not normally plunge an aircraft into total darkness.
“When multiple triggering factors combine with meteorological conditions, such a situation may occur,” he told private broadcaster NTV.
He explained that information retrieved from the black box would be critical in determining what went wrong, adding that the full analysis could take several months.
Haddad had served as Libya’s chief of general staff since August 2020, following his appointment by then-prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj.
Libya remains divided between the UN-recognised government in Tripoli led by Dbeibah and the eastern-based administration loyal to Commander Khalifa Haftar.
The country has experienced prolonged instability since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Turkey maintains close economic and military ties with the Tripoli-based government, but in recent months has also engaged the rival eastern administration, including a meeting in August between Turkey’s intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, and Haftar in Benghazi.
What you should know
The recovery of the black box and cockpit voice recorder is a crucial step in understanding the circumstances surrounding the crash that killed Libya’s most senior military officer.
Investigators are focusing on the reported electrical failure, though aviation experts say multiple factors, including weather conditions, may have contributed. The findings could take months but are expected to clarify whether technical faults alone caused the accident.
The incident also comes amid sensitive regional diplomacy, highlighting Turkey’s strategic ties with Libya’s rival political and military factions.
