Libya arrested two pilots on Sept. 16 for allegedly flying a Türkiye-based private jet while drunk before crashing in the northwestern city of Misrata without causing any human casualties.
The public prosecution did not disclose the specific identities of the detained suspects, but the private television channel Al-Ahrar reported the flight captain was a German national and the copilot was a Turkish national.
The private jet, which was operated by a corporate entity headquartered in Türkiye, veered off the Misrata airport runway during a landing attempt on Sept. 14 before catching fire. A female flight attendant of Turkish nationality was the only other person on board the aircraft at the time of the incident, according to reports from Al-Ahrar television.
Investigators working on the legal case found concrete evidence the pilots had flown the aircraft under the influence of alcohol before the prosecution officially ordered their pre-trial detention, the prosecution said.
The two pilots posed a real threat to the airport, its regular users and the safety of the airspace the aircraft had traversed before it crashed on the airport runway, the prosecution said in a public statement regarding the incident.
Photographs widely circulated on various internet platforms showed the entire aircraft, with the exception of the front cockpit area, had caught fire and completely burned to the ground following the runway incident.
The public prosecution officially reaffirmed a comprehensive investigation into the Misrata runway crash is currently underway to determine the precise circumstances of the incident, evaluate the extent of the damage and establish the legal liabilities of the flight crew.
