Seven including Libyan army chief Lt Gen Mohamed Ali-Haddad killed in plane crash

ANKARA: Libya’s army chief Lt Gen Mohamed Ali-Haddad was killed in a plane crash in Turkey. Turkish authorities said they lost contact with the Falcon 50 business jet shortly after it departed Ankara Esenboga Airport at around 8.52 pm (local time). Turkey’s interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said contact was lost after the aircraft sent an emergency landing notification near the Haymana district, about 50 miles southwest of Ankara. In addition to Ali Al-Haddad, four other officers and three flight crew members on board the plane were killed in the crash.

The Libyan delegation was in Turkey for high-level defense talks aimed at increasing military cooperation between the two countries. Mohammed Ali and his team were returning from the talks when the accident occurred. Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah announced that all those on board the plane have been killed.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that the business jet lost contact with the plane about 42 minutes after taking off from Ankara airport. Officials said that the plane, which was heading to the Libyan capital Tripoli, had made an emergency landing request before losing contact. The wreckage of the plane was later found southwest of Ankara. Officials said that an investigation into the cause of the crash was underway. It was also reported that a technical fault in the plane caused the crash.