ISTANBUL, December 24. /TASS/. Turkish rescuers have discovered the flight recorder from an aircraft with the Libyan Army Chief of Staff, Muhammad al-Haddad, on board that crashed near Ankara on Tuesday evening, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told TRT Haber.

"The black box was found at 2:45 a.m. local time on Wednesday (11:45 p.m. GMT on Tuesday)," said Yerlikaya, who visited the crash scene.

According to the interior minister, the Falcon 50 flight departed Ankara Esenboga International Airport for Tripoli at 8:17 p.m. local time (5:17 p.m. GMT) on Tuesday. A quarter of an hour later, the pilots reported an emergency on board and announced a decision to return to the Turkish airport. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the flight at 8:52 p.m. Debris from the crashed plane were discovered near Haymana in Ankara Province at 10:00 p.m. There were eight people on board, including five senior Libyan officials.

The relief effort at the site of the crash involving 408 people is ongoing, Yerlikaya said. "Wreckage was scattered across an area spanning around 3 square kilometers," he added. Additionally, 20 experts have arrived in Ankara from Libya to look into what might have caused the accident. "We are determined to clarify all circumstances of what happened and we will make the causes public," the Turkish minister pledged.

Earlier reports said the Tripoli-based National Unity Government of Libya declared a three-day mourning for al-Haddad, who died in the Turkey air crash.