Turkish Minister of Interior Ali Yerli Kaya announced that contact was lost with a Falcon 50 business jet carrying serial number 9H-DFJ this evening at 8:52 PM, after it took off from Ankara Esenboğa Airport at 8:10 PM headed for Tripoli.
The minister indicated that the airplane had requested an emergency landing near the Hymana area, however, contact could not be re-established afterward.
Authorities confirmed that the plane had five passengers on board, including the Chief of the General Staff of the Libyan Armed Forces, Major General Mohamed Ali Ahmad Al-Haddad.
Kaya added on his "X" platform account: "The plane was en route from Ankara to Tripoli and requested an emergency landing in the Ankara area, but communication was lost thereafter."
Reuters reported that flight tracking data shows flight diversions away from Ankara Airport.
Libyan media revealed that Dbeibeh formed a crisis cell to communicate with the Turkish side regarding the incident.
Meanwhile, Turkish media highlighted that Al-Haddad's plane crashed while en route from Ankara to Tripoli, and the fate of its passengers remains unknown.
