Contact is lost with jet carrying Libyan army chief after takeoff from Turkey, official says
Associated PressTue, December 23, 2025 at 7:25 PM UTC
1 min read
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's air traffic controllers lost contact on Tuesday with a private jet carrying Libya’s military chief and four other people home after a visit to Turkey, the Turkish interior minister said.
The minister, Ali Yerlikaya, said the Falcon 50 type business jet took off from Esenboga airport in Turkey's capital, Ankara, at 8:30 p.m. Contact with the aircraft was lost 40 minutes later, the minister said in a social media post.
The plane issued an emergency landing signal near Haymana, a district south of Ankara, before all communication ceased, Yerlikaya said.
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Security camera footage aired on local television stations showed the night sky over Haymana suddenly lit up by what appeared to be an explosion.
The Libyan military chief, Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, was in Ankara, where he met with Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler and other officials.
Following the reports, the airport in Ankara was closed and several flights were diverted to other locations, private NTV news channel reported.