A passenger plane has
disappeared from radar while
flying from the West African
country of Burkina Faso.
The jet carrying 110
passengers and six crew was
travelling from Burkina
Faso's capital Ouagadougou
to the Algerian capital Algiers when it vanished around 50
minutes into the flight.
"In keeping with procedures,
Air Algerie has launched its
emergency plan," Algeria's
APS state news agency
quoted the airline as saying.
Flight AH5017 is owned by
Spanish private airline
Swiftair and operated by Air
Algerie.
Swiftair said the aircraft took
off from Burkina Faso at
1.17am local time and was
supposed to land in Algiers at
5.10am local time but never
reached its destination.
The McDonnell Douglas
MD-83 had been missing for
hours before news of its
disappearance was made
public.
Its flight path was not
immediately clear.
Ouagadougou is in a nearly
straight line south of Algiers,
separated by Mali where
unrest continues in the
north of the country.
Airlines had been warned not
to fly over Mali in recent
days.
However, a senior French
official said it is unlikely that
fighters in Mali could shoot
down a plane.
They are known to have
shoulder-fired weapons
which could not hit an
aircraft travelling at a
cruising altitude of some
33,000ft.
Sky's Alistair Bunkall said
there are reports in the
Algerian media that the
plane crashed after running
out of fuel.
But given the plane was 50
minutes - or about 300 miles
- into its journey that is
unlikely to be a cause, he
said.
Swiftair has a fleet of more
than 30 planes flying in
Europe, Africa and the
Middle East. Source. www.news.sky.com/story/1306685/passenger-jet-carrying-116-vanishes-from-radar

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