A Turkish opposition lawmaker has suggested sabotage in the fatal crash of a plane carrying Libya’s military chief near Ankara, alleging that the aircraft spent 101 minutes on the same airport apron as an Israeli jet before takeoff, while security footage from the area is missing.
Deniz Yavuzyılmaz, a lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said the Libyan aircraft was parked on apron No. 5 at Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport before its December 23 crash, although planes carrying foreign state officials are normally parked on apron No. 1, the main apron closest to the VIP terminal.
Yavuzyılmaz said an Israeli jet was later directed to the same apron and remained there with the Libyan aircraft for 1 hour and 41 minutes, while the Libyan crew was at a hotel.
He alleged that cameras belonging to the General Directorate of State Airports Authority (DHMİ), the state agency that operates Turkey’s airports, should have monitored and recorded the area but were not working on the day of the crash.
“If you claim the cameras were working, release the 1 hour and 41 minutes of footage immediately,” Yavuzyılmaz said, addressing Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu.
He also suggested that footage from a private company’s security cameras may exist and asked whether the opposition would have to release it itself.
The allegation centers on the crash of a Dassault Falcon 50 carrying Lt. Gen. Mohammed al-Haddad, chief of staff of the armed forces of Libya’s United Nations-recognized Government of National Unity, which controls the west of the country, including Tripoli.
All eight people on board were killed, including Haddad, four aides and three crew members.
The plane crashed near Ankara shortly after taking off from Esenboğa Airport for Tripoli. Turkish officials said at the time that the pilots reported an electrical failure and requested an emergency landing before contact was lost.
A preliminary crash report later said the aircraft struck a hill at an altitude of 1,252 meters (about 4,108 feet) at high speed, with both engines running and while still intact.
The report said the impact caused the aircraft to explode and disintegrate, scattering wreckage across about 150,000 square meters. It also said investigators found no evidence of fire inside the aircraft, findings that weakened early speculation that an explosion or fire had brought the plane down before impact.
The preliminary report did not determine the cause of the crash. Investigators said a final conclusion would come after technical examinations and analysis of flight recorder data.
Yavuzyılmaz also questioned why two senior DHMİ officials, including one responsible for airport security, had their terms on the agency’s board extended by presidential decision on April 24 despite what he described as security failures and missing evidence.
“What is this a reward for?” he asked. “For the cameras that did not work? For the hidden evidence?”
Libya has remained split between rival power centers since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.