Black box recovered from Libyan general's crashed plane

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HAYMANA — Turkish authorities found voice recorder and black box from a private jet early on Wednesday that crashed shortly after it took off from the capital Ankara, killing the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides.

The Falcon 50 aircraft requested an emergency landing because of electrical failure minutes after it took off but then the contact was lost, Turkish officials said. It was returning to Tripoli.

The plane's wreckage was located by Turkish security personnel in the Haymana district near Ankara.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said voice recorder and the flight data recorder (black box) were recovered from the plane, speaking to reporters at the site.

"The examination and evaluation processes of these devices have been initiated by the relevant authorities," he said.

Lieutenant General Mohammed al-Haddad and four other aides were returning to Tripoli after holding talks in Ankara with Turkish military officials. The plane carried eight passengers including three crew members.

Yerlikaya said the bodies were still at the wreckage area, adding that a 22-member Libyan delegation have arrived in Ankara.

Haddad had been the army's chief of general staff since August 2020 and was appointed by then-prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj.

Libyan Chief of Staff General Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad was officially welcomed at the General Staff Headquarters during his visit to Ankara, Turkiye on December 23, 2025. Libya-bound business jet carrying Al-Haddad is found 2 kilometers south of Kesikkavak Village in Ankara’s Haymana district, following the aircraft’s emergency landing shortly after departing from Esenboga Airport and subsequent loss of contact with the control tower.

Libya is split between a UN-recognised government in Tripoli, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and commander Khalifa Haftar's administration in the east.

The North African country has been divided since a NATO-backed revolt toppled and killed longtime leader Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

Turkey has close ties with the UN-backed government in Tripoli, to which it provides economic and military support and there have been frequent visits between both sides.

But Ankara has recently also reached out to the rival administration in the east, with the head of Turkey's intelligence agency, Ibrahim Kalin, meeting with Haftar in Benghazi in August.