A plane carrying Libya’s top military commander and seven others crashed near Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, killing everyone on board in what officials described as a tragic accident that has devastated the North African nation.
Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmad al-Haddad, the military chief of staff for Libya’s western government, died when the Falcon 50 business jet went down in the Haymana district, approximately 45 miles south of Ankara. The aircraft had departed from Esenboga airport at 8:30 pm before contact was lost around 40 minutes after takeoff.
The crash claimed the lives of eight people, including four military officials and three crew members. Among the dead were Gen. Al-Fitouri Ghraibil, the head of Libya’s ground forces, Brig. Gen. Mahmoud Al-Qatawi, who led the military manufacturing authority, Mohammed Al-Asawi Diab, an adviser to the chief of staff, and Mohammed Omar Ahmed Mahjoub, a military photographer with the chief of staff’s office.
The plane reported an electrical fault and requested an emergency landing before disappearing from radar while descending. Turkish officials confirmed the aircraft was redirected back to Esenboga, where preparations for its landing had begun when it vanished from tracking systems.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah confirmed the deaths, calling it a “tragic accident” on social media. Libya declared a three-day national mourning in response to the devastating loss, with flags to fly at half-staff across all state institutions.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya coordinated the response efforts on Wednesday, as recovery teams worked in difficult conditions near the village of Kesikkavak. The wreckage was scattered over one square mile, complicating efforts to locate and identify remains. Search teams included 408 personnel working through muddy terrain after overnight rain and fog had hampered initial operations.
Authorities successfully recovered the black boxes from the crash site. Turkish officials announced the cockpit voice and flight data recorders would be sent to a neutral country for examination to ensure impartial findings about what caused the disaster.
A 22-person delegation from Libya arrived in Turkey on Wednesday to assist with the investigation and support recovery efforts. The group included five family members of those killed in the crash, according to Turkish officials overseeing the operation.
The high-ranking Libyan military officials had been in Ankara holding defense talks aimed at strengthening military cooperation between the two countries. The delegation held meetings with Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler and other officials before departing for their return journey to Tripoli, Libya.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan contacted Dbeibah by telephone to convey his condolences following the crash. The Turkish leader expressed his profound sorrow over the deaths and assured that a thorough investigation would be conducted into the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.
The plane registered in Malta was carrying senior military leaders who played significant roles in Libya’s complex political landscape. Al-Haddad had been pivotal in UN efforts to unify Libya’s fractured military institutions, which have been divided along with the nation’s other governmental bodies.
“Al-Hadad was the top military commander in western Libya and played a crucial role in the ongoing, U.N.-brokered efforts to unify Libya’s military, which has split, much like the nation’s other institutions,” officials noted about his critical leadership position.
The crash represents a significant blow to Libya’s efforts to consolidate its military command structure. The country has struggled with institutional division since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, leaving rival administrations controlling different regions of the nation.
Turkey has maintained close ties with Libya’s western government based in Tripoli, providing support through security and military cooperation agreements. The recent visit by the Libyan military delegation came just one day after Turkey’s parliament approved a two-year extension of the mandate for Turkish troops serving in Libya.
The deployment of Turkish forces followed a 2019 security agreement between Ankara and the Tripoli-based government. However, Turkey has recently taken steps to improve relations with the eastern-based government as well, seeking to play a broader role in stabilizing the divided nation.
Wednesday marked a somber day for both Libya and Turkey as recovery operations continued in the Haymana district. Specialized vehicles, including tracked ambulances, were deployed to navigate the muddy terrain where debris was found scattered across a wide area.
Turkish disaster management agency AFAD established a mobile coordination center at the crash site, while gendarmerie police sealed off the surrounding area. Authorities from the Turkish forensic medicine authority worked alongside recovery teams to identify remains and piece together evidence from the wreckage.
Four prosecutors were assigned by Turkey to lead the investigation into what caused the business jet to go down shortly after takeoff on Tuesday evening. The examination of the recovered flight recorders is expected to provide crucial insights into the final moments of the flight and the electrical fault that prompted the emergency landing request.
The loss of Gen. al-Haddad and the other senior military officials represents one of the most significant blows to Libya’s military leadership in recent years. Their deaths remove key figures who had been working to bridge divides within the country’s fractured armed forces and security institutions.
As Libya observed its period of national mourning on Dec. 24, 2025, questions remain about how the loss of these military leaders will impact ongoing efforts to unify the country’s defense establishments and what it means for the broader political reconciliation process that has struggled to gain momentum in recent years.
