ANKARA, Dec 23 (KUNA) - Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced Tuesday that contact was lost with a Libya-bound private jet carrying the Libyan army chief shortly after departure from Ankara's Esenboga Airport.
The Falcon 50-type business jet, with tail number 9H-DFJ, took off at 8.10 p.m. local time (1710GMT) en route to Tripoli and communication was cut off with it at approximately 8.52 p.m. local time (1752GMT), Yerlikaya wrote on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal.
He unveiled that the plane had sent an emergency landing notification near Haymana, a district south of the Turkish capital Ankara.
"However, no further contact could be established with the aircraft after the initial emergency signal," he said.
He pointed out that the jet was carrying five passengers on board, including Libya's Chief of General Staff General Mohamad Al-Haddad.
The Turkish Interior Minister stated that an operation was launched to locate the aircraft. (end) aas.ibi