Air Algerie flight AH5017 lost contact with ground control 50 minutes after takeoff from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. It was supposed to have arrived at Algiers’ Houari Boumediene Airport a few hours later but 6 hours later and no contact yet, it’s been confirmed by Algerian television station Elnahar that the plane crashed in Niger after flying through violent storms,
The 18 year old plane is an MD-83. It was carrying 110 passengers comprising mainly French people, two pilots and six crew members mostly Spanish. A private Spanish company, Swiftair, operates the plane for Air Algerie.
The region was badly affected by violent storms and it was earlier said the plane was rerouted while it was flying over Mali. The plane crashed after passing the capital of Niger and it is presumed all 116 people on board have been killed. The flight was said to have been found near Niamey, the capital of Niger.
The flight was scheduled to land at its destination at about 05:10 local time but there was no communication with the ground, despite officials trying to make contact for six hours.
