BREAKING NEWS: An AIR ALGERIE plane has vanished from radar with 116 people on board. It was supposed to land in Algiers at 05:10 local time but never reached its destination.
12:35 pm
12:29 pm
Some Algerian media outlets are reporting that the plane has crashed into the Niger River.
12:27 pm
The French transport minister has said that it is "likely many' passengers on the plane are French.
Already we have had reports that up to 80 of the passengers were en route to Paris.
12:23 pm
A diplomat in Mali said the plane is likely to have gone through a powerful sandstorm that hit overnight.
Meanwhile authorities have set up a crisis unit in Burkna Fasso's Ouagadougou airport to provide information to families of people on the flight.
Issa Saly Maiga, head of Mali's National Civil Aviation Agency, said that a search was under way for the missing flight.
"We do not know if the plane is Malian territory," he said. "Aviation authorities are mobilised in all the countries concerned - Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Algeria and even Spain."
12:15 pm
This is what the weather currently looks like over northern Africa.
There appears to be a huge cloud that has swept across Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso earlier today.
12:09 pm
It is believed there were 80 French passengers on the plane, en route to Paris.
The six crew members are thought to be Spanish
The plane has now been confirmed as a McDonnell Douglas MD-83.
12:06 pm
The last contact Algerian authorities had with the aircraft carrying was at 0155 GMT when it was flying over Gao, Mali, an Algerian official said on Thursday.
That is about 300 miles from Niamey, Niger, where it has been reported a plane has come down.
The city is not on the flight route for the plane but it has been reported that it had been diverted to avoid a collision.
11:59 am
The Air Algeria plane is believed to have been diverted due to poor visibility.
It is reported that there was a risk of it colliding with another plane flying from Algiers to Bamako in Mali.
11:58 am
11:56 am
It is now being reported that the plane may have come down during a violent thunderstorm.
11:52 am
There are unconfirmed reports coming in that the plane has come down in Niger.
China's CCTV news and Nine News Australia have both said that the plane came down near Niamey.
Here's CCTV News's suggesting the plane has come down.
11:48 am
People have been reacting with shock to the disappearance of the Air Algerie plane.
Many have said that they don't want to fly again.
Sreeparna Sengupta summed up what many people might be thinking right now.
11:45 am
Here's a quick update on what we know so far:
A flight operated by Air Algerie carrying 110 passengers and a crew of six has disappeared from the radar during a journey from Burkina Faso to Algiers.
The official Algerian news agency said air navigation services lost track of the Swiftair plane 50 minutes after take-off in the early hours of Thursday.
Swiftair, the private Spanish airline, confirmed 116 people were on board.
The flight path of Flight AH5017 from Ouagadougou, the capital of the west African nation of Burkina Faso, to Algiers was not immediately clear.
Ouagadougou is almost directly south of Algiers, passing over Mali where unrest continues in the north.
A senior French official said it was unlikely that fighters in Mali had weaponry that could shoot down a plane.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the fighters have shoulder-fired weapons which could not hit an aircraft at cruising altitude.
11:41 am
Another tweet from Air Algerie.
The aircraft took off at 1.55, 50 minutes later we haven't heard anything from the plane.
L'avion a décoller a 1h55, 50 minutes après nous n'avons pas eu de nouvelles de l'avion. Avion espagnole Cellule de crise a @AeroportAlger
— Air Algérie (@Air_Algerie) July 24, 2014
11:38 am
On its website Swiftair says it has been running since 1986 when it had just 10 planes.
It now has a fleet of more than 30 aircraft with 400 employees and travels to countries across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
The website says: "Swiftair is one of the leading charter companies in air freight and passenger operations, whose business is focused on its corporate clients and tour operators who are in charge of managing the final client’s ticketing and cargo."
11:37 am
No flight radar information covers the area where the plane went missing.
However, Flightradar24 tweeted this picture of a similar plane which was being operated by Swiftair.
11:32 am
Air Algerie has tweeted this.
It says: "Currently we have no news from the VolAH5017. Thank you"
Actuellement nous n'avons aucune nouvelles du VolAH5017. Merci
— Air Algérie (@Air_Algerie) https://twitter.com/Air_Algerie/statuses/492252893790363648">July 24, 2014
11:32 am
Tamanrasset in the deep south of Algeria was the site of the country's worst ever civilian air disaster, in March 2003.
In that accident, all but one of 103 people on board were killed when an Air Algerie passenger plane crashed on takeoff after one of its engines caught fire.
11:31 am
This tweet shows the full statement from Swiftair.
It appears to have been directly translated through Google translate.
11:30 am
The disappearance of the Air Algerie plane comes a week to the day after the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash in which 298 people died.
Yesterday a plane came down in Taiwan came down killing at least people.
Here's Air Algerie's official route map.
11:24 am
A senior French official said it was unlikely that fighters in Mali had weaponry that could shoot down a plane.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the fighters have shoulder-fired weapons which could not hit an aircraft at cruising altitude.
The plane's six crew members are made up of two pilots and four cabin crew.
11:12 am
This map shows the route the plane was taking from Burkina Faso to Algiers.
11:02 am
Spanish private airline company Swiftair confirmed it had lost contact with the plane which has 110 passengers and six crew members on board.
The company said in a notice posted on its website that the aircraft took off from Burkina Faso at 0117 local time.
It was supposed to land in Algiers at 0510 local time but never reached its destination.
10:55 am
An Air Algerie flight from Burkina Faso to Algiers has disappeared from radar, the official Algerian news agency confirmed.
APS said air navigation services lost track of the plane 50 minutes after take-off in the early hours of Thursday.
"In keeping with procedures, Air Algerie has launched its emergency plan," the agency quoted the airline as saying.
The flight path of Flight AH5017 from Ouagadougou, the capital of the west African nation of Burkina Faso, to Algiers was not immediately clear.
Ouagadougou is almost directly south of Algiers, passing over Mali where unrest continues in the north.
CRD: DailyMirror .
1 comment:
aziz bilal17:55
1
weather problem is to blame here.
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