Contact lost with Air Algerie plane flying over Africa
London (CNN) -- An Air Algerie flight, with 116 people on board, has dropped off the radar, prompting a search for the missing plane, the airline's operator said Thursday.

Flight AH 5017 lost radar contact 50 minutes after takeoff from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, at 1:17 a.m. Thursday local time (9:27 p.m. ET Wednesday)

It was supposed to have arrived at Algiers' Houari Boumediene Airport at 5:10 a.m. local time. (12:10 a.m. ET Thursday).

The plane is carrying 110 passengers, two pilots and four crew members.

"We have lost contact with the plane," said Swiftair, the Spanish operator of the plane.

"At this moment, emergency services and our staff are working on finding out more on this situation."