Two French crew members died in the crash of a private jet in Turkey this week that also killed Libya’s top military commander from the United Nations-recognized government in Tripoli, a French diplomatic source told Agence France-Presse on Friday.
Libya’s armed forces chief Lt. Gen. Mohammed al-Haddad was killed along with four aides when the Dassault Falcon 50 went down near Ankara on Tuesday. Haddad had been in Ankara for a meeting with his Turkish counterpart.
The French source said two French nationals who were crew members also died in the accident. The source did not identify them but said France’s foreign ministry was in contact with their families and providing assistance.
Turkish authorities said the plane crashed in the Haymana district south of Ankara and that they recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder on Wednesday.
Authorities said contact was lost with the plane 42 minutes after takeoff and that an emergency landing notification was sent near the spot where it crashed.
The Falcon 50 is a French-made, long-range business jet. The plane was chartered from Harmony Jets, a Malta-based private company that says on its website that its maintenance facility is located in Lyon, France. The company declined to provide information about the identities or nationalities of the crew.
Airport Haber, a Turkish aviation news website, reported that the pilot and co-pilot were French. It also cited a Greek newspaper report saying a cabin attendant was Greek and had joined the company two months ago.
France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) said on X that it was participating in Turkey’s investigation.
Turkey’s transport and infrastructure minister, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, said the recorders would be analyzed in a “neutral” country. Turkish Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said Turkey had contacted Germany about doing the work.
Turkey has close ties with the UN-backed government in Tripoli, providing military and economic support. Ankara has also recently reached out to the rival administration in eastern Libya led by commander Khalifa Haftar.
Libya has been split between rival centers of power since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
© Agence France-Presse