Swiftair (Madrid) McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83 (MD-83) registered EC-LTV (msn 53190) operating for Air Algerie (Algiers) as flight AH 5017 from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to Algiers with 110 passengers and 6 crew members is missing. Contact with the airliner has been lost over Mali near Gao about 50 minutes after the takeoff. Both airlines have announced they have lost contact with the crew.
According to Reuters, the country of Burkino Faso stated the flight had asked ATC to alter its course due to a storm. There was a known sandstorm in the area according to local reports.
Swiftair said on its website the flight took off from Burkina Faso at 0117 GMT and was supposed to land in Algiers at 0510 GMT but never reached its destination.
Two French Air Force Mirage 2000 jets based in west Africa have been dispatched to try to locate the missing airliner according to Reuters.
Reuters is now reporting the plane has crashed:
“An Air Algerie flight crashed on Thursday en route from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers with 110 passengers on board, an Algerian aviation official said.”
Update: The wreckage has been found near the city of Gao, Mali (see the map below). There are no survivors of the 116 passengers and crew members on board.
Read the full report from The Telegraph: CLICK HERE
Update: From CNN:
“France has declared a three-day mourning period to commemorate the victims of the Air Algerie flight 5017 crash, French President Francois Hollande declared on Saturday (July 26).
Following a meeting with families of the victims, Hollande said flags will fly at half-staff on government buildings from Monday through Wednesday.
Fifty-four of the 118 victims were French nationals.
The second flight data recorder from has been found in Mali, a U.N. official said Saturday (July 26).”
Top Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Sister ship McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83 (MD-83) M814NK became EC-KCX on delivery (msn 49619).
Bottom Copyright Photo: Javier Rodriguez/AirlinersGallery.com. The ill-fated DC-9-83 (MD-83) EC-LTV at Palma de Mallorca before the tragic crash.
Swiftair: 
Air Algerie:
Google Maps:
Gawd!
WTF is going on?
Did some one say that crashes always come in THREES?
Hugs,
Jan
Thanks Jan. The first one was a terrorist missile attack (no fault of the pilot or the aircraft, although ATC should have not have routed them over a war zone) and the last two appear (at this time) to be weather related. We will have to wait for the official accident reports. Moral of the three crashes, respect war zones (know where not to fly) and respect/avoid severe weather. All the best.
Bruce