A Cessna Citation Latitude registered TC-AKF veered off Runway 15 during landing at Misrata International Airport (MRA) on September 14, 2026, and was destroyed by fire — and Libyan prosecutors have now ordered both pilots held in pretrial detention on allegations they flew the jet while intoxicated.

The aircraft, operated by Turkish charter company BKNJET, had arrived from Istanbul with two pilots and a flight attendant aboard to collect passengers. All three crew members survived the accident.

Libya's state news agency, LANA, carried the prosecutors' announcement on September 16. Investigators questioned the crew 24 hours after the accident and confronted the pilots with evidence that they had operated the aircraft while intoxicated, according to the statement. The announcement did not describe any evidence supporting the allegation. Prosecutors also accused the pilots of disregarding aviation safety rules and endangering the crew, the aircraft and people at the airport.

The operator disputes the account. BKNJET says reports that the pilots were arrested are inaccurate and that no evidence supporting the alcohol allegation has reached the company. The pilots are being questioned, it said.

"No verified result or document indicating any such finding regarding alcohol has been received by us," the company said in a statement.

The gap between the prosecutors' public accusation and the evidence disclosed so far leaves the intoxication claim unverified. What is documented is the physical sequence under investigation: the jet ran off the runway on landing and burned.

Both the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder have been recovered, according to a Libyan Civil Aviation Authority statement, and will be sent to a specialist facility for decoding. Those recordings — not the prosecutors' announcement — will determine whether the allegation holds.

The accident investigation team has interviewed the crew and air traffic control personnel, listened to tower recordings and traced the jet's path from touchdown on Runway 15 to its final resting point. Investigators have also examined the wreckage, reviewed air traffic control and weather information, and taken statements from technical personnel at the airport. The wreckage has been moved into an enclosed hangar for examination.

The case puts two processes on parallel tracks: a criminal prosecution moving quickly toward pretrial detention, and a technical investigation that has only begun decoding the recorders. For BKNJET, the outcome carries operational and reputational stakes; for Libyan authorities, it tests whether an accident investigation under detention conditions can produce evidence credible enough to sustain the intoxication charge. Decoder results from the recorders should offer the first independent check on the prosecutors' claim.