Sadness was caused by the news of Falcon 50 south of , in Turkey, which was carrying high-ranking officials, including the chief of the General Staff of the Libyan Army. All on board died.
The list of victims also includes a Greek flight attendant, who worked in the crew of the fatal Falcon 50. The investigations have focused on the black box of the aircraft, however experts already agree on one element.
We were only 30 seconds away from a greater tragedy. According to experts, if the plane had continued to be out of control for another 30 seconds, . Its residents were the first to arrive at the crash site.
🇱🇾🇹🇷 Libya’s Chief of General Staff Gen. Muhammad Ali Ahmed al-Haddad and four other members of the Libyan delegation have died in the crash of a Falcon 50 business jet in the vicinity of the capital of Turkey, Ankara, on Tuesday evening.
The contact with Al-Haddad’s plane had…
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Finding the wreckage of the plane, which had fallen in fields and forested areas, residents informed the authorities. Describing their initial panic, residents said: “We heard an incredible explosion. The windows of the houses shook and we thought it was an earthquake. It was a very big explosion and the sky lit up.”
The seven minutes before the tragedy
The Turkish authorities, in a briefing to journalists, spoke about the information that has become known from the investigations so far. Turkey’s transport minister, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, spoke about the last seven minutes of the fatal flight.
In these the pilot issued a distress signal and then communication with the control tower was lost.
- At 20:31 the aircraft issued the code PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN, one level below the MAY DAY warning, which is the highest danger code.
- At the same time, the pilot informed the control tower of a “general electrical failure” and requested a flight path to return to Ankara.
- At 20:32 the air traffic controller informed the aircraft of the direction and level of descent it should take to return to Esenboğa Airport.
- At 20:33 the pilot issued emergency code 7700, the highest danger code. At the same time, the aircraft disappeared from the radar.
- At 20:34 the air traffic controller confirmed with the pilot the control of the noise level.
- At 20:34 the aircraft was handed over to Approach Control for an emergency return to Esenboğa Airport.
- At 20:35 the aircraft signaled to return, declaring PAN-PAN, PANPAN, PAN-PAN.
- At 20:36 the pilot’s voice became difficult to hear. There was a partial loss of flight information on the radar screen.
- At 20:38 the aircraft completely disappeared from the radar.
The questions that demand answers
Investigations to ascertain the causes of the tragedy will continue. However, there are already some data that raise questions. The pilot signaled PA-PAN, not May-Day. This is a lower level emergency statement. This means that the pilots may not have had a clear picture of the problem they were facing.
In fact, they had preparedEspecially in the event of a malfunction, the aircraft must dump fuel to make a safe landing. Fuel is reported to have been removed. It appears that the plane crashed while this process was in progress.
At the same time, there is no history of electrical problems in the Falcon 50. This raises many questions about the maintenance of the aircraft, something that the Libyan side had pointed out. We remind you that the aircraft was rented by a company in Malta.
Since it is a French type Falcon, leased from Libya, which crashed in Turkey, a three-member committee with officials from all three countries is planned.
