Flight AH5017 to Algiers, thought to be carrying 110
passengers and six crew, disappears in early hours of
Thursday morning.
An Air Algérie flight from Burkina Faso to Algiers
disappeared from radar early on Thursday, the official
Algerian news agency said.
The owner of the plane said 110 passengers and six
crew were aboard.
Air navigation services lost track of the plane after
0155 GMT, or 50 minutes after takeoff, the agency said.
That means that Flight AH5017 had been missing for
hours before the news was made public.
"In keeping with procedures, Air Algérie has launched
its emergency plan," the agency quoted the airline as
saying.
The flight path of the plane from Ouagadougou, the
capital of the west African nation of Burkina Faso, to
Algiers was not immediately clear.
Ougadougou is in a nearly straight line south of
Algiers, passing over Mali, where unrest continues in
the north.
However, a senior French official said it was unlikely
that fighters in Mali had weaponry that could shoot
down a plane.
The official, said the fighters have shoulder-fired
weapons, which could not hit an aircraft at cruising
altitude.
source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/24/air-algerie-ah5017-flight-burkina-faso-algiers-disappears-from-radar