[ 2014-07-24 ]

Wreckage of Air Algerie plane spotted in the Mali desert
The wreckage of an Air Algerie flight that crashed
in a remote area of Mali early Thursday has been
found, the country's President told other
officials, according to Reuters.
President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said at a meeting
that the crash site was discovered "between
Aguelhoc and Kidal" in a desert region in northern
Mali, Reuters said.
Flight 5017 was carrying at least 116 people when
it departed Burkina Faso for Algeria. It
disappeared from radar after diverting from its
planned course due to bad weather, French Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters.
At least 50 of the passengers aboard the MD-83
were French.
French forces, including two fighter jets, helped
search for the aircraft, along with Algerian and
U.N. personnel in the region, Fabius said.
Two days, two plane crashes Missing Algerie
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Air Algerie: Plane crashed in Tilemsi areaAir
Algerie: Plane crashed in Tilemsi area
Radar contact with the crew was lost 50 minutes
after takeoff from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, at
1:47 a.m. Thursday, Fabius said. The aircraft was
supposed to arrive at Algiers' Houari Boumediene
Airport. Mali lies between Burkina Faso and
Algeria.
The plane was carrying 110 passengers and six crew
members, Air Algerie sales manager Zoheir Houaoui
told reporters.
Among the passengers, he said, were 50 people from
France; 24 from Burkina Faso; eight Lebanese; six
Algerians; five Canadians; four Germans; two from
Luxembourg; one from Mali; one Cameroonian; one
Belgian; one Ukrainian; one Romanian; one Swiss;
one Nigerian; and one Egyptian.
The plane's six crew members were Spanish, Houaoui
said. The plane belongs to a private Spanish
company, Swiftair, but it appears to have been
operated by Air Algerie.
A U.S. State Department official said the
department was not aware of any Americans on the
flight.
Ouagadougou Airport said in a statement that
Mariela Castro, daughter of Cuban President Raul
Castro, was among those on board. However, the
National Center for Sexual Education in Havana,
Cuba, which Mariela Castro runs, denied the
reports and told CNN she was at an event in
Havana.
Castro subsequently told a Telesur anchor who
interviewed her by phone, "I'm alive, kicking,
happy and healthy!"
Weather may have played a role in crash
According to CNN meteorologist Mari Ramos, the
flight path took the aircraft through a region of
thunderstorms.
The flight path went through a turbulent area, so
it is likely that if the plane was diverted
because of weather, it was to avoid a bumpy
flight. Thunderstorms are a very common occurrence
at this time of year in the area.
The MD-83 is part of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80
family of twin-engine, single-aisle jets.
Air Algerie is Algeria's national airline, with
flights to 28 countries.
The deadliest incident in the airline's history
occurred in March 2003 when a domestic flight
crashed after takeoff, killing 102 people on
board. One person survived.
In February, a Hercules C-130 military aircraft
crashed in the mountains of eastern Algeria,
killing 77 of the 78 people on board.
Flight 5017's disappearance comes exactly a week
after a Malaysia Airlines plane was brought down
in Ukraine with 298 people on board.
What you need to know about commercial airplane
crashes

Source - CNN

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