An Air Algerie flight en route from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers is missing with 110 passengers on board, almost half of them French citizens, officials said on Thursday. There were no clear indications of what might of happened to the flight en route north to Algiers, but Burkino Faso Transport Minister Jean Bertin Ouedrago said the aircraft asked to change route at 0138 GMT because of a storm in the area.
Two French fighter jets based in the region have been dispatched to try to locate the airliner along its probable route, a French army spokesman said. Niger security sources said planes were flying over the border region with Mali to search for the flight. Algeria’s state news agency APS said authorities lost contact with flight AH 5017 an hour after it took off from Burkina Faso, but other officials gave differing accounts of the times of contact, adding to confusion about the fate of the flight and where it might be.
Algeria’s state news agency APS said authorities lost contact with flight AH 5017 an hour after it took off from Burkina Faso, but other officials gave differing accounts of the times of contact, adding to confusion about the fate of the flight and where it might be. Swiftair, the private Spanish company that owns the aircraft, confirmed it had lost contact with the MD-83 operated by Air Algerie, which it said was carrying 110 passengers and six crew.
