Harmony Jets Flight 185

Aircraft The aircraft involved was a leased 37-year-old Dassault Falcon 50, operated by Harmony Jets and registered in Malta. Passengers and crew The aircraft was carrying officials returning from a trip to Ankara to discuss security cooperation between Libya and Turkey. The five passengers were identified as Libyan Army chief Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, ground forces chief of staff Al-Fitouri Gharibil, director of the Military Manufacturing Authority Mahmoud Al-Qatawi, al-Haddad's adviser Muhammad Al-Asawi Diab and military photographer Muhammad Omar Ahmed Mahjoub. The plane was crewed by two French crew members and a Greek flight attendant. ==Crash==

The aircraft took off from Ankara Esenboğa Airport in Ankara at 17:17 GMT, en route to Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli, Libya. At 17:32, it stopped climbing at . A minute later, the transponder code was changed to squawk 7700 (emergency) and the crew informed air traffic control (ATC) of an electrical malfunction. The crew requested an emergency landing and were redirected back to Esenboğa Airport where preparations for a landing began. Three minutes after, the aircraft began descending before losing contact with ATC at 17:41 near the village of Babayakup, approximately south of Haymana. A possible explosion was caught on security camera footage. Authorities discovered wreckage near the village of Kesikkavak in Haymana district. ==Aftermath==

Ankara airport was temporarily closed because of the crash, and several flights were diverted. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan offered his condolences during a phone call to Libyan prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh. In Libya, the internationally recognized Government of National Unity based in Tripoli declared three days of national mourning for the crash victims, placed state flags at half-mast, and suspended official ceremonies and celebrations. Officials from the rival Government of National Stability in eastern Libya also expressed condolences, including military commander Khalifa Haftar and the House of Representatives. The head of the council, Mohamed al-Menfi, posthumously promoted Haddad to the military rank of field marshal. A military funeral for the victims was held at the Mürted Airfield Command in Ankara. The bodies of the deceased, which were stored at the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute for identification through DNA analysis, were transported to Libya by plane accompanied by General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, the Chief of the Turkish General Staff. Upon arrival in Tripoli, another official memorial ceremony was held at the Ministry of Defense headquarters. An official funeral was held at Misurata Stadium, after which private burials were held by the victims' families. ==Investigation==

Turkish officials ruled out sabotage and said the initial cause was a technical failure after the pilot notified ATC that there was an electrical fault. Libya sent a team of 22 people, including five relatives of the victims, to Ankara to work with Turkish authorities on investigating the crash. They arrived the following day. Both the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were found. The Turkish Ministry of Justice assigned four prosecutors to investigate the crash. Transportation Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said that the flight recordings would be investigated by a "neutral third country". Germany later declined to conduct the investigation, and the United Kingdom was chosen instead. The French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety also said it would participate in the investigation. == References ==