Libya’s chief of army staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, has died in a plane crash near the Turkish capital, Ankara, shortly after the aircraft took off from the city’s main airport. The crash, which occurred on Tuesday night, killed all eight people on board, including four senior Libyan military officers and three crew members.
According to Turkish officials, early investigations have ruled out sabotage and instead indicate that a technical failure caused the accident. The private jet, a Dassault Falcon 50, went down in Ankara’s Haymana district after losing contact with air traffic control.
On Wednesday, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed that the aircraft’s black box had been recovered. “The examination and evaluation processes of these devices have been initiated by the relevant authorities,” he said while speaking to reporters at the crash site near Kesikkavak village.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah confirmed al-Haddad’s death in a statement posted on Facebook, describing the incident as a “tragic accident” that occurred as the delegation was returning to Libya after official meetings in Türkiye.
“This great tragedy is a great loss for the nation, the military institution, and all the Libyan people,” Dbeibah said. “We have lost men who served their country with sincerity and dedication and who were examples of discipline, responsibility, and national commitment.”
Al-Haddad was the most senior military commander in western Libya and a key figure in United Nations-backed efforts to reunify the country, which has remained divided since 2014 following the NATO-supported uprising that led to the overthrow and death of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
The other Libyan officers killed in the crash were General Al-Fitouri Gharibil, head of Libya’s ground forces; Brigadier General Mahmoud Al-Qatawi, who led the Military Manufacturing Authority; Muhammad Al-Asawi Diab, an adviser to the chief of staff; and Muhammad Omar Ahmed Mahjoub, a military photographer attached to al-Haddad’s office.
The Libyan delegation had been in Ankara for high-level defence talks aimed at strengthening military cooperation between Libya and Türkiye. Following confirmation of the deaths, Libya’s UN-recognised Government of National Unity (GNU) declared three days of official mourning across the country. Flags at state institutions were ordered to be flown at half-mast, and all official celebrations were suspended.
Interior Minister Yerlikaya said the jet took off from Ankara’s Esenboga Airport at 8:10pm local time and was headed for Tripoli. Radio contact was lost approximately 40 minutes later. Authorities later located the wreckage in a rural area of Haymana.
He added that the aircraft had requested an emergency landing while flying over Haymana. Turkish presidential communications chief Burhanettin Duran said the plane had reported an electrical fault and was cleared to return to Esenboga, where emergency preparations were made. However, the aircraft disappeared from radar while descending.
Local television stations aired security camera footage showing the night sky suddenly lighting up, suggesting an explosion at the time of the crash.
Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc announced that Ankara’s chief prosecutor’s office has opened a formal investigation. A Turkish official told Al Jazeera that preliminary findings show no evidence of sabotage, with technical malfunction cited as the likely cause.
Libya is expected to send a technical team to Ankara to assist Turkish authorities in the investigation. Walid Ellafi, Libya’s state minister for political affairs and communication, said the aircraft was a leased Maltese jet and that Libyan officials currently lack detailed information about its ownership and maintenance history.
Reporting from Tripoli, Al Jazeera correspondent Malik Traina described al-Haddad’s death as a “huge loss” to Libya. He noted that grief has been expressed across the country, including from Libya’s eastern-based administration.
Eastern commander Khalifa Haftar issued a statement expressing deep sorrow, while the House of Representatives in Benghazi also offered condolences to the victims’ families.
Al-Haddad, who served as chief of general staff since August 2020, was widely respected for his efforts to promote reconciliation and his refusal to align himself with powerful militias. A career soldier, he supported the 2011 uprising against Gaddafi and was seen by many as a unifying figure capable of bridging Libya’s deep political and military divisions.
The crash came just one day after Türkiye’s parliament voted to extend the deployment of Turkish troops in Libya for two additional years, highlighting the close military and political ties between Ankara and Tripoli.
