aviation
Türkiye: Lost contact with airman with Libyan general
Updated 12/23/2025 – 9:03 p.mReading time: 1 min.
Shortly after take-off from the Turkish capital, connection to a plane is lost. A senior Libyan military officer who came on an official visit is said to be on board.
Shortly after takeoff from Ankara, contact with a plane on the way to Tripoli was lost. Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X that the Libyan Chief of General Staff Mohammed al-Haddad was among the five inmates. Contact with the Falcon 50 aircraft was lost about 40 minutes into the flight. An emergency landing report had previously been received.
According to Turkish media reports, the airspace over Ankara was closed to flights. It is unclear whether the plane crashed.
According to Libyan media reports, in addition to Chief of General Staff al-Haddad, his advisers and other high-ranking military officials were on board the plane. They belong to the government of Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dbaiba, based in Tripoli, which is hostile to the government in eastern Libya. Al-Haddad was in Turkey for an official meeting, Turkish and Libyan media reported. Turkey is considered the most important supporter of the government in Tripoli.
A civil war raged in Libya for many years after the fall of long-term ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011. Today the North African country, where militias and foreign states continue to fight for power and resources, is effectively divided. In the west is the Dbaiba government, in the east is the hostile government of Prime Minister Osama Hammad, which is supported by the renegade General Khalifa Haftar and Russia.
