Investigation Summary
Flight 185 departed Ankara at 20:17 local time. Approximately eight minutes into the flight, while climbing through FL320, the crew transmitted a PAN-PAN call citing a general electrical failure. The aircraft's transponder was set to squawk 7700 at 20:33, but radar tracking became intermittent shortly thereafter. Although the crew established contact with the Approach Control Unit at 20:35 and reported passing FL240, communication became unintelligible by 20:36. The aircraft disappeared from radar at 20:38 and impacted rocky terrain at an elevation of 1,252 meters. The crash site, located near Kesikkavak village, was characterized by muddy terrain and poor weather conditions, including rain and fog, which hampered initial recovery efforts. Following the crash, the Libyan Presidential Council appointed General Salah Eddine al-Namrush as interim chief of staff and posthumously promoted General al-Haddad to Field Marshal. The investigation has focused on the technical failure reported by the crew and the subsequent loss of control during the descent.
Final Conclusions
The investigation is ongoing. The Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Ministry's Transportation Safety Investigation Center (UEIM) released a Preliminary Report in February 2026. Both the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) were recovered and sent to the United Kingdom for analysis after Germany declined the request. While Turkish officials initially ruled out sabotage in favor of technical failure, a subsequent audit by the French OSAC into the operator's maintenance organization (Harmony Aircraft Services) revealed multiple Level-1 findings, leading to the cessation of the company's operations in early 2026.
Photographic Evidence (1)
Video Analysis
Footage - Harmony Jets Flight 185 — On December 23, 2025, a Dassault Falcon 50 operating by Harmony Jets crashed shortly after takeoff from Ankara. All passengers and crew were killed.
If playback is blocked, the owner has disabled embedding — use the link above.
Systems & Failure Modes
Electrical System
The crew explicitly reported a 'general electrical failure' to ATC, which preceded the loss of transponder data and communication.
Transponder
The crew manually set the transponder to squawk 7700 (Emergency) at 20:33 TRT before radar contact was lost.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft was a 37-year-old Dassault Falcon 50 registered in Malta.
- 02The passenger manifest included Libyan Army Chief of Staff General Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, ground forces chief of staff Al-Fitouri Gharibil, director of the Military Manufacturing Authority Mahmoud Al-Qatawi, adviser Muhammad Al-Asawi Diab, and military photographer Muhammad Omar Ahmed Mahjoub.
- 03General Mohammed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad was posthumously promoted to the rank of Field Marshal following the accident.
- 04The crew consisted of two French pilots and one Greek flight attendant.
- 05Maintenance was performed on the aircraft between December 1 and December 9, 2025, just two weeks before the crash.
- 06The crash site covered approximately 3 square kilometers of rocky, muddy terrain.
Safety Actions & Advisories
Maintenance Organization Audit
The French DGAC requested an unscheduled audit of Harmony Aircraft Services, resulting in four Level-1 findings and the eventual termination of all employees.
AOC Suspension Appeal
Systemic violations found during the post-crash audit prompted appeals to Maltese aviation authorities to suspend the Harmony Jets Air Operator Certificate (AOC).
Known Controversies & Unanswered Questions
Regulatory Oversight Concerns
Reference ↗The French DGAC raised formal concerns with Maltese aviation authorities regarding alleged deficiencies in their oversight system of Harmony Jets prior to the accident.
Location
ACCIDENT SITE · Coordinates taken from the official investigation report.