Missing Air Algerie plane from Burkina Faso has crashed: Algerian official
Last edited Thu Jul 24, 2014, 10:26 AM - Edit history (1)
Source: Reuters
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.
There were few clear indications of what might have happened to the aircraft, or whether there were casualties, but Burkina Faso Transport Minister Jean Bertin Ouedrago said it asked to change route at 0138 GMT because of a storm in the area.
"I can confirm that it has crashed," the Algerian official told Reuters, declining to be identified or give any details about what had happened to the aircraft on its way north.
Almost half of the passengers were French citizens, an airline official said.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/24/us-algeria-flight-idUSKBN0FT0YK20140724
= new reply since forum marked as read
MH17, Flight 222, and now AH5017. Total dead well over 400 people. Could be over 450 if this is a total loss. 
The Burkina Faso Transport Minister Jean Bertin Ouedrago said the flight asked to change route at 01.38am because of a storm in the area.
...
Meanwhile, the BBC is reporting that UN troops in Mali believe the plane has come down between Gao and Tessalit.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/air-algerie-loses-contact-with-plane-flying-from-burkina-faso-9625270.html
From the BBC:
...
Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal reportedly told Algerian radio: "The plane disappeared at Gao (in Mali), 500 kilometres (300 miles) from the Algerian border."
UN troops in Mali say they understand the plane came down between Gao and Tessalit, the BBC's Alex Duval Smith in the Malian capital Bamako reports.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28460625
There were heavy storms in that are also. 
In the headline, at least. In the article, they still refer to the plane as missing.
The plane's flight path would have taken it over some disputed territory, but I doubt that the local forces have the sort of firepower needed to bring down aircraft.
Tuareg Rebellion
Northern Mali Conflict
Air Algerie Flight AH5017 crashes with 5 Canadians on board
Updated
Air Algerie Flight AH5017 crashes with 5 Canadians on board
France scrambles 2 fighter jets to search for missing plane
The Associated Press Posted: Jul 24, 2014 6:03 AM ET| Last Updated: Jul 24, 2014 10:13 AM ET
Burkina Faso's transport minister says five Canadians were among those onboard an Air Algerie flight that officials said disappeared from radar over northern Mali after heavy rains were reported.
The plane was carrying 116 people from Burkina Faso to Algeria's capital, according to the plane's owner and government officials in France and Burkina Faso. Nearly half of the passengers were French.
Air navigation services lost track of the MD-83 about 50 minutes after takeoff from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, at 9:55 p.m. EDT Wednesday, the official Algerian news agency APS said.
The French media is quoting Zoheir Houaoui of Air Algérie saying the plane was carrying 50 French passengers, six Algerians, one Malian, one Belgian, two from Luxembourg, five Canadians, one from Cameroon, four Germans, one Nigerian, eight Lebanese, one Romanian, 24 from Burkino Faso and six so far unidentified passengers. The six crew – two pilots and four stewards – were all Spanish.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/24/air-algerie-flight-5017-wreckage-found-mali
