Arab News | Libya arrests pilots accused of flying Turkish jet drunk before runway crash

TRIPOLI: Libya’s public prosecution said Wednesday it ordered the arrest of two pilots for allegedly flying a private jet while drunk after the aircraft crashed in Misrata airport without any casualties.

The public prosecution did not disclose their identity, but private TV channel Al-Ahrar had reported that the captain was a German national and the copilot Turkish.

The private jet reportedly operated by a Turkiye-based company veered off the Misrata airport runway during landing on Monday, before catching fire.

A flight attendant — a woman also of Turkish nationality, according to Al-Ahrar TV — was the only other person on board.

The prosecution said investigators found “evidence that (the pilots) had flown the aircraft while drunk”, before ordering their pre-trial detention.

The pilots “posed a real threat” to the “airport, its users and the safety of the airspace the aircraft traversed before it crashed”, the prosecution added.

Photos circulated online had shown that, with the exception of the cockpit, the entire aircraft had caught on fire after the incident.

The prosecution said an investigation was ongoing.