Libyan Army Chief's Jet Loses Contact After Ankara Takeoff

A private jet carrying Libya's army chief of staff and four other passengers lost radio contact with air traffic controllers shortly after takeoff from Ankara's Esenboğa Airport on Tuesday evening, Turkish officials confirmed, raising fears of a possible crash near the capital.

The Dassault Falcon 50 business jet departed at 8:10 p.m. local time, bound for Tripoli, with Libya's Chief of General Staff, General Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, among those on board. Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stated that the aircraft requested an emergency landing while flying over the Haymana district southwest of Ankara, but communication ceased at 8:52 p.m. and could not be reestablished. "Contact with the Falcon 50 type business jet, tail number 9HDFJ, which took off from Ankara Esenboğa Airport at 2010 this evening en route to Tripoli, has been lost as of 2052," Yerlikaya said in a post on social media. "An emergency landing notification was received from the aircraft near Haymana; however, contact with the aircraft could not be reestablished afterward."

Flight tracking data indicated that other aircraft were diverted from the area, and Esenboğa Airport was temporarily closed to...