After 13 months of a highly publicized legal battle with the Japanese justice system, former Chairman of Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Renault Carlos Ghosn is once again the talk of the town, locally, regionally, and internationally, at his stunning escape from Tokyo on Monday, December 30, 2019.
In an unforeseen twist in Ghosn’s legal battle, the business giant fled Japan to Turkey on December 30, 2019, and then took an airplane to Lebanon.
The whole operation was too well thought out that Japanese intelligence is still waiting for some answers on how he managed to escape the judicial ban, issued on April 25, 2019, forbidding him to leave the country.
The speculations have been wide, some make sense and some are just out of the world. Local Lebanese media has reported that Ghosn succeeded in the departure by hiding in a musical instrument box, big enough for a cello.
Other media has reported that the departure was done by some kind of setup which allowed Ghosn to fly off by a private plane.
Even though it is still unknown how Ghosn has pulled off the capper, Turkish newspaper The Hürriyet Daily News speaks in detail about Ghosn’s arrival to Turkey, according to air navigation sources.
The Hürriyet indicated on Wednesday, January 1, 2020, that the Lebanese businessman, Carlos Ghosn, arrived in Lebanon from Turkey by a private plane on the night of December 29-30, 2019.
The newspaper’s navigational source confirmed that, during the last twenty days, there were no private jets belonging to civilians recorded to exit Sabiha Gokcen International Airport and Ataturk International Airport from Istanbul directly to Lebanon, expect one.
That exception occurred during the alleged night of Ghosn’s escape where the departure of a private jet was recorded from Ataturk Airport to Beirut International Airport.
The Hürriyet questioned the reason why the plane landed in Turkey first, knowing that Lebanon is only one hour away from Turkey.
It also questions the procedures following the landing of any plane to Istanbul, and the name used by Ghosn during the flight.
The newspaper got in contact with the Turkish minister of interior Süleyman Soylu who confirmed that there are no papers under the name of Ghosn after checking all recorded flights.
The Hürriyet also confirmed that a plane arrived in Turkey from Osaka, Japan, at 5:30 am local time and landed at Ataturk International Airport, which is currently designated for private flights and cargo only.
The plane carries on its tailplane the letters TC-TSR which belongs to the Turkish businessman Tarkan Ser.
Aircraft TC-TSR (well known #TCTSR) flew from Osaka Japan to Istanbul the same day as #carlos_ghosn #carlosghosn #Ghosn flew from Turkey to Beirut Lebanon 30.12.2019#Renault #Nissan pic.twitter.com/M2WebkTKKZ
— COTAM Fleet (@CotamFleet) December 31, 2019
After the plane landed, and before the arrival of the employees responsible for the registration, two people got out of the plane and registered their names.
However, according to the newspapers, it appeared that there was a third person who did not get off the plane.
Shortly after the plane got off and entered the hangar, another private plane flew out of the same hangar to Beirut, carrying a Turkish attendant and the CEO of a commercial company and a third unknown person. The plane that arrived in Turkey flew from Osaka.
The airplane that is named TC-TSR had transported a while back two American men from Dubai to Osaka for a party, and they returned via TC-TSR to Istanbul. The newspaper concluded that this was a camouflage so no one would suspect the coming of Ghosn.
The full story?
✈️ TC-TSR #TCTSR
11.10pm Osaka Kansai 11.10pm
5.26am Istanbul Ataturk
https://t.co/hlaoQO524Q✈️ TC-RZA #TCRZA
06.03am Istanbul Ataturk
06.14am Beirut
(Local times)
https://t.co/a7Lm72qpiH@flightaware #carlos_ghosn #Ghosn #BreakingNews @BFMTV pic.twitter.com/1HFoYOLcFP— COTAM Fleet (@CotamFleet) December 31, 2019
