A Libyan delegation arrived in Ankara on Wednesday to follow up on investigations into the crash of a private jet that killed senior Libyan military officials, Turkish media reported. According to the daily Sabah, the delegation is liaising with Turkish authorities at the crash site and monitoring both the technical and judicial investigation processes. The incident occurred in the Haymana district of Ankara province, prompting the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to launch a formal investigation on Tuesday evening, Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said.
All eight people on board were killed, including Libya’s army chief of staff, Mohammed al-Haddad. Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Wednesday that the aircraft’s black box had been recovered, noting that debris was scattered across an area of about three square kilometres.
The aircraft, tail number 9H-DFJ, departed Ankara’s Esenboga Airport at 20:10 local time (1710 GMT) on Tuesday, bound for Tripoli. Contact was lost at 20:52 (1752 GMT) after the crew issued an emergency landing alert near Haymana. The jet was carrying five Libyan military officials and three crew members. The Libyan delegation, led by al-Haddad, had been in Ankara earlier on Tuesday for high-level military talks, including meetings with Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler and other senior defence officials, shortly before the fatal crash.
