The preliminary accident investigation report into the crash in Ankara of the aircraft carrying Libyan Chief of General Staff Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al Haddad and his delegation has been completed. According to the report, the aircraft reported an “electrical malfunction” minutes before the crash and struck a hill at high speed with its engines still running.
A critical stage has been completed in the investigation into the crash of the private jet carrying the Libyan military delegation, which went down on the evening of 23 December in Ankara’s Haymana district. The preliminary accident investigation report prepared by the technical committee has been added to the prosecutor’s case file.
The report includes findings that set out, with detailed technical data, the sequence of events from take-off to the moment of explosion. The chronology of the final minutes of the aircraft carrying Libyan Chief of General Staff Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al Haddad and his delegation has now been clarified.
Emergency Call 16 Minutes After Take-off
According to the preliminary report, the Dassault Falcon 50 aircraft with registration 9H-DFS experienced an emergency shortly after departing Ankara Esenboğa Airport. The timeline in the report is as follows:
- 20:17: The aircraft took off from Ankara Esenboğa Airport.
- 20:33: The pilot reported an “electrical malfunction” to air traffic control and requested an emergency landing.
- 20:36: The aircraft, which had begun to descend, disappeared from radar screens, and no further contact could be established.
“It Impacted at High Speed with the Engines Running”
Initial examinations at the wreckage site determined that the aircraft did not suffer an in-flight mechanical stoppage and that the accident occurred due to the speed at the moment of impact and environmental conditions. The striking assessment included in the preliminary report is conveyed as follows:
“The aircraft impacted the hill at an elevation of 1,252 metres as a whole, at high speed and with its engines running. As a result of the kinetic energy generated by the severity of the impact not being absorbed by the rocky terrain, the aircraft exploded, and the wreckage was dispersed over an area of approximately 150,000 square metres.”
The report also clearly states that there were no indications of fire or explosion inside the aircraft fuselage prior to the accident, and that the explosion resulted from the post-impact flash.
Maintenance Carried Out Two Weeks Before the Accident
One of the notable aspects of the investigation is the aircraft’s maintenance history. According to the preliminary report, the aircraft’s most recent maintenance was completed by the operating company between 1 and 9 December 2025, approximately two weeks before the accident. The report notes that a maintenance release certificate was issued following the work.
This has led investigators to focus examinations into the source of the electrical malfunction on the most recent maintenance processes and system checks. It is expected that the final report will determine the exact cause of the malfunction.
