Misrata crash investigation ends with detention of both pilots
LIBYA – The Public Prosecution ordered the detention of the captain and co-pilot of a Cessna Citation Latitude aircraft, type C68A, for flying the aircraft at Misrata International Airport while intoxicated.
Wreckage inspection and landing conditions
The Public Prosecution said through its media office that it had opened an investigation into the crash of the aircraft, which veered off the runway. The investigator inspected the wreckage and recorded air-traffic-control data and weather reports during the flight, the weather conditions when it landed on the runway, then heard testimony from the technical staff responsible for managing the landing phase.
Crew questioning and detention order
The Prosecution said the investigator questioned the aircraft’s crew about the circumstances of its departure from the runway twenty-four hours after the incident, then confronted the captain and co-pilot with having flown it while intoxicated, and informed them of evidence indicating they had neglected aviation and public safety rules, posing a definite risk to their own safety and the aircraft, and a potential risk to the airport and its users and to the public safety of the airspace it passed through until it was destroyed.
The investigator ordered the suspects held in pre-trial detention and the continuation of the investigation into the incident in accordance with the relevant national and international rules.
