Turkey recovers black box from jet crash that killed Libyan army chief
Source: bne IntelliNews
Turkey recovered the black box and cockpit voice recorder from wreckage of a private jet that crashed near Ankara on December 24, killing Libya’s army chief and others on board, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stated on December 24.
Teams from the Transportation Safety Investigation Centre of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure recovered the aircraft’s voice recorder in the wreckage area at 2.45am local time, with the black box found at 3.20am, Yerlikaya told reporters cited by Anadolu Agency.
The examination and evaluation process of the devices has begun. A total of 408 personnel have been working at the scene with 103 ground vehicles and seven air vehicles, the minister stated.
The wreckage spans roughly three square kilometres, Yerlikaya noted. A 22-member Libyan delegation, including five relatives of victims, Defence Ministry representatives and Interior Ministry officials, has arrived in Ankara.
“We are also very curious about the cause of the crash, but this data will reveal the cause, and the authorities will share the findings with you,” Yerlikaya stated.
The minister offered condolences to the families of those killed and to the Libyan government and people, calling the incident a “tragic accident”.
Gendarmerie teams found the wreckage of the Falcon 50-type business jet, which took off from Ankara’s Esenboga Airport en route to Tripoli, about two kilometres south of Kesikkavak village in Haymana district.
Turkey’s defence ministry earlier in the day said Haddad met with Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler and Turkish counterpart Selcuk Bayraktaroglu, along with other Turkish military commanders.
On December 22, the Turkish parliament voted to extend the mandate for the deployment of Turkish soldiers in Libya by two more years.
Turkey is a military and political backer of Libya’s GNU under a “One Libya” policy. Five years ago, it sent soldiers to the country to train and support government forces.
A maritime demarcation accord struck between Libya and Turkey has drawn objections from Egypt and Greece. It is linked to a preliminary Turkey-Libya energy exploration accord.
The GNU controls the western part of Libya.
The Libyan House of Representatives-recognised Government of National Stability nominally governs the central and eastern parts of Libya. It is led by Osama Hammad under the de facto rule of the Libyan National Army and its commander Khalifa Haftar.
Libya’s Government of National Unity declared three days of national mourning following the deaths.
The original article: belongs to bne IntelliNews .
