SRINAGAR: A private jet carrying Libya’s army chief of staff reported an electrical failure and sought an emergency landing shortly before crashing near Ankara, turkey killing all eight people on board, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing Turkey’s head of communications.
The Dassault Falcon 50 departed Ankara’s Esenboga Airport at 1717 GMT on Tuesday bound for Tripoli and alerted air traffic control at 1733 GMT to an emergency triggered by an electrical malfunction, Burhanettin Duran said in a statement.
Eight people, including three crew members, died in the crash, according to officials from Libya and Turkey.
Air traffic controllers redirected the aircraft back towards Esenboga Airport and initiated emergency procedures, but the jet vanished from radar at 1736 GMT while descending for landing and contact was lost, Duran added.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said earlier that the aircraft requested an emergency landing while flying over Ankara’s Haymana district, and that the wreckage was later located near Kesikkavak village in the area, TRT World reported.
Search and rescue teams reached the site after operations were launched by Turkey’s Interior Ministry, while investigations into the cause of the crash are continuing with the involvement of all relevant authorities, Duran said.
Libya’s internationally recognised government said those killed included army chief of staff Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad and four members of his entourage, adding that the jet was leased and registered in Malta and that its ownership and technical history would be examined as part of the investigation.
