Turkish authorities on Wednesday recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder (black box) from a private jet that crashed on Tuesday, killing Libya’s top military chief, General Mohammed al-Haddad, along with four aides. The Falcon 50 aircraft, returning from Ankara to Tripoli, had requested an emergency landing due to an electrical failure shortly after takeoff but lost contact with air traffic control. The wreckage was found in Haymana district near Ankara by Turkish security personnel.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed the recovery of the black box and voice recorder, stating that “the examination and evaluation processes of these devices have been initiated.” Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu added that the analysis would be conducted in a neutral country, and results would be shared “with our nation and the entire world with full transparency.” Experts have cautioned that decoding the black box data could take several months.
The crash claimed the lives of General al-Haddad, who had been Libya’s army chief of staff since August 2020, and his four aides, out of eight people aboard, including three crew members. The general had recently held talks with Turkish military officials in Ankara. Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah expressed “deep sadness and great sorrow” over the loss, noting that Haddad was highly regarded across the divided country and had been seen as a unifying figure for Libya’s military.
Eyewitnesses and residents in Tripoli mourned the deaths, noting Haddad’s popularity in both the eastern and western regions of Libya. “It will be hard to find a man of his calibre,” said Nasreddine al-Maghribi, a Tripoli resident. Haddad had played a crucial role in the UN-recognised government’s efforts to consolidate the armed forces and maintain stability in the divided nation, split between Dbeibah’s administration in Tripoli and Khalifa Haftar’s eastern authority.
A total of 408 personnel from Turkey’s disaster agency AFAD, police, and health services were deployed to the crash site, which covers approximately three square kilometres. Drones provided real-time imagery of the wreckage. The Ankara prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the incident. Aviation analysts noted that while a single electrical failure might not account for a total loss of control, multiple factors, including weather conditions, may have contributed.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered condolences to Prime Minister Dbeibah over the deaths, highlighting the strong diplomatic ties between Ankara and Tripoli. The recovery of the black box is expected to provide critical insights into the causes of the crash, which has shocked both sides of Libya’s political and military divide.
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