Contact has been lost with an Air Algerie flight between Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (OUA) and Algiers, Algeria (ALG). Flight 5017 was an MD-83 that was being flown by Spanish carrier Swiftair on behalf of the Algerian airline. The aircraft had 110 passengers and 6 crew members onboard. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane approximately 50 minutes into the flight. The aircraft involved is widely reported to be EC-LTV. The MD-83 was delivered in August of 1996 to Heliopolis Airlines.
Update: 7/24 12:30 GMT Government officials have indicated that the Air Algerie flight deviated eastward towards Niger. There were strong, 40,000+ foot high thunderstorms along the planned route of flight at the time it was operating. Thunderstorms in Northwest Africa typically move from east to west at this time of year, eventually moving offshore and potentially forming tropical weather. There is no indication at this time that weather played any role in the disappearance of this flight.
Update: 7/25 10:00 GMT France’s President, François Hollande, has announced in a statement that the wreckage of Air Algerie Flight 5017 has been located. The wreckage was located in the area of Gossi, just off the planned route of flight, near the Mali-Burkina Faso border. There were no survivors. French troops have been dispatched to secure the crash site, which is in a relatively unstable area. Hollande has stated that one of the MD-83’s black boxes has already been recovered.
DEVELOPING…