The chief of the Libyan army, Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, sadly died in a plane crash on December 23, 2025. The attack came as he was on a private plane, returning to Libya from Turkey. The Dassault Falcon 50-type aircraft, reportedly carrying a number of senior Turkish officials, lost contact with air traffic control shortly after taking off from Ankara’s Esenboğa airport.
The jet departed at 17:10 GMT but lost radio communication at 17:52 GMT. As they were airborne over Haymana, al-Haddad declared an emergency landing. Efforts to make more contact were unsuccessful. Besides Al-Haddad, five other people were on board. Part of the delegation were the commander of Libya’s ground forces, the director of Libya’s military manufacturing authority, an adviser to the Libyan chief of staff, and a photographer from the chief of staff’s office.
In the days leading up to the ill-fated flight, al-Haddad held a series of high-level meetings with Turkish officials. In particular, including speaking with Turkey’s defence minister, Yaşar Güler and his counterpart, Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu. These meetings were the first steps of an official visit to boost military cooperation between Libya and Turkey.
The confirmation of al-Haddad’s loss came from Abdel Hamid Dbeibah, prime minister of Libya’s Government of National Unity. He expressed profound sorrow over the incident.
“This followed a tragic and painful incident while they were returning from an official trip from the Turkish city of Ankara. This grave loss is a great loss for the nation, for the military institution, and for all the people,” – Abdul Hamid Dbeibah
We’re told by authorities that they are still in an active investigation of the crash. Their goal is to determine what led to the loss of contact with the airplane. In Libya, the government is mourning the loss of their leader. He also had an enormous influence on the country’s armed forces.