Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu on Tuesday released the detailed pilot–controller communication logs from a Malta-registered Falcon 50 that crashed shortly after takeoff from Ankara, documenting how the crew reported electrical failure, issued urgent calls and struggled to maintain contact before the aircraft vanished from radar.
According to the log, the 9H-DFS aircraft, operating as flight HMJ185, departed Esenboğa Airport at 8:17 p.m. Monday for Libya’s Mitiga Airport and initially proceeded under standard procedures. After climbout, the aircraft was handed from tower to approach control and then to area control, reaching its cleared altitude of 34,000 feet at 8:25 p.m.
The first sign of distress came at 8:31 p.m., when the crew, passing roughly 32,000 feet, declared “PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN” and reported a general electrical failure, requesting radar vectors to return to Ankara. Controllers issued heading and descent instructions one minute later.
At 8:33 p.m., the pilot activated transponder code 7700, the highest emergency signal, prompting controllers to reconfirm the situation. Moments later, radar altitude data began dropping out, and at 8:34 p.m., rising interference forced the controller to initiate a radio check with the crew.
Despite the fading audio quality, the aircraft was handed back to approach control at 8:34 p.m. for its emergency return after the pilot verbally confirmed flight level. At 8:35 p.m., another “PAN-PAN” call came through and additional vectors were provided.
By 8:36 p.m., communications had nearly collapsed, with the pilot barely audible and radar data degrading. At 8:38 p.m., the jet disappeared completely from radar. Controllers attempted to reach the aircraft for five minutes across multiple frequencies but received no response.
With the aircraft’s location unknown, Esenboğa temporarily suspended arrivals and departures as a precaution. Search and rescue teams were deployed immediately by both air and land. The Air Force Air Defense Notification Center later confirmed that the jet crashed near Kesikkavak village in Ankara’s Haymana district.
Investigators recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder at the scene. Minister Uraloğlu said a preliminary report has begun and that both recorders will undergo detailed analysis in a neutral country to determine the cause of the crash. He pledged full transparency once the findings are complete.
Türkiye expressed condolences to Libya, calling the crash a tragic loss.
