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| Air Algérie Plane Missing in Sahara With 116 Aboard | |
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| PARIS — A jetliner with 116 people onboard disappeared overnight Thursday on a flight across the Sahara from Burkina Faso to Algeria, and officials said it had probably crashed. | PARIS — A jetliner with 116 people onboard disappeared overnight Thursday on a flight across the Sahara from Burkina Faso to Algeria, and officials said it had probably crashed. |
| President François Hollande of France, whose citizens made up nearly half the passengers on the plane, said his country would mobilize “all its resources,” civilian and military, to find the missing jet, Air Algérie Flight 5017. “The search will last as long as it takes, even through the night,” Mr. Hollande said in televised remarks after an emergency cabinet meeting. | |
| “We still don’t know what happened,” he said. “What we know is that the crew signaled at 1:48 a.m. that it was changing direction because of a particularly difficult weather situation.” | |
| The French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, said, “The search is taking place in a vast zone in Mali in the region of Gao.” | |
| A government minister in Mali who was briefed on the plane’s disappearance said it was clear that the aircraft had crashed. “It’s been more than 12 hours since our last contact with the plane,” said the minister, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. “It’s obviously gone down — the question is where?” | |
| Still, Frédéric Cuvillier, the French transport minister, told reporters Thursday afternoon that “at this moment, the plane is still missing,” and added, “we have no confirmation at this point” that it had crashed. Mr. Hollande likewise referred to the aircraft as “missing.” | |
| Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane, a Boeing MD-83, sometime before 2 a.m. local time on Thursday, less than an hour after it took off from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, bound for Algiers, according to the official Algerian news agency, other news reports and the Malian official. | |
| The plane’s route would have taken it over large desert areas where Islamic militant groups have been active, including northern Mali, which was overrun by Al Qaeda’s North African affiliate in 2012. When French and African troops drove the militants out of towns in the region, the militants left behind stacks of manuals with detailed instructions on how to use an SA-7a or SA-7b surface-to-air missile, a shoulder-fired weapon capable of taking down an airliner at short range, such as during takeoff or landing. But those militants are not known to possess heavier weapons that could strike an aircraft at cruising altitude. | The plane’s route would have taken it over large desert areas where Islamic militant groups have been active, including northern Mali, which was overrun by Al Qaeda’s North African affiliate in 2012. When French and African troops drove the militants out of towns in the region, the militants left behind stacks of manuals with detailed instructions on how to use an SA-7a or SA-7b surface-to-air missile, a shoulder-fired weapon capable of taking down an airliner at short range, such as during takeoff or landing. But those militants are not known to possess heavier weapons that could strike an aircraft at cruising altitude. |
| Early guesses about the cause of the disappearance focused instead on bad weather in the region. Residents of northern Mali reported a heavy sandstorm overnight. “There was a lot of damage from the wind, especially in the region of Kidal,” said Kata Data Alhousseini Maiga, an official with the United Nations mission in Gao, Mali. “The sand was so thick that you couldn’t see.” | Early guesses about the cause of the disappearance focused instead on bad weather in the region. Residents of northern Mali reported a heavy sandstorm overnight. “There was a lot of damage from the wind, especially in the region of Kidal,” said Kata Data Alhousseini Maiga, an official with the United Nations mission in Gao, Mali. “The sand was so thick that you couldn’t see.” |
| Moumouni Barro, Burkina Faso’s director of airports, said in a telephone interview from Ouagadougou that a resident of Gossi, a village in Mali between Mopti and Gao, near the border with Burkina Faso, “saw the plane fall from the sky” around 1:50 a.m., during a storm. Mr. Barro said the resident’s account was credible and that searchers were at work in the area. | Moumouni Barro, Burkina Faso’s director of airports, said in a telephone interview from Ouagadougou that a resident of Gossi, a village in Mali between Mopti and Gao, near the border with Burkina Faso, “saw the plane fall from the sky” around 1:50 a.m., during a storm. Mr. Barro said the resident’s account was credible and that searchers were at work in the area. |
| However, other people in Gossi, including the town’s mayor, who were reached by telephone Thursday afternoon could not confirm the report that the plane had been seen there. | However, other people in Gossi, including the town’s mayor, who were reached by telephone Thursday afternoon could not confirm the report that the plane had been seen there. |
| Earlier, the government of Burkina Faso issued a statement saying that “search and rescue teams from Burkina, Mali, Niger and Algeria, in collaboration with France, have been activated in northern Mali.” And the Malian official said the country was sending soldiers to the region where the plane was flying when contact was lost. “It’s a deserted zone, so it could take some time” to get there, the official said. | Earlier, the government of Burkina Faso issued a statement saying that “search and rescue teams from Burkina, Mali, Niger and Algeria, in collaboration with France, have been activated in northern Mali.” And the Malian official said the country was sending soldiers to the region where the plane was flying when contact was lost. “It’s a deserted zone, so it could take some time” to get there, the official said. |
| Two French fighter jets that were on patrol over northern Mali were diverted to try to locate the plane as well, according to Col. Gilles Jarron, a French Army spokesman. “Two Mirage 2000 jets were given the mission to search the area after reports of a suspected accident,” Colonel Jarron said Thursday afternoon. “They are in the air, searching the area between its last known destination along its most probable route.” | Two French fighter jets that were on patrol over northern Mali were diverted to try to locate the plane as well, according to Col. Gilles Jarron, a French Army spokesman. “Two Mirage 2000 jets were given the mission to search the area after reports of a suspected accident,” Colonel Jarron said Thursday afternoon. “They are in the air, searching the area between its last known destination along its most probable route.” |
| The plane belonged to a Spanish company, Swiftair, and was operated by Air Algérie. Swiftair confirmed in a statement from its offices in Madrid that it had lost contact with the plane, and said it was carrying 110 passengers and a crew of six. “In keeping with procedures, Air Algérie has launched its emergency plan,” the state news agency quoted the Algerian airline as saying in a statement. | The plane belonged to a Spanish company, Swiftair, and was operated by Air Algérie. Swiftair confirmed in a statement from its offices in Madrid that it had lost contact with the plane, and said it was carrying 110 passengers and a crew of six. “In keeping with procedures, Air Algérie has launched its emergency plan,” the state news agency quoted the Algerian airline as saying in a statement. |
| The disappearance of the plane comes at a time when the aviation industry is already reeling from the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine last Thursday, the crash of TransAsia Airways Flight 222 in Taiwan on Wednesday and the suspension of flights to and from Tel Aviv this week because of rocket fire from Gaza. The Federal Aviation Administration lifted its ban on American flights to Israel overnight. | The disappearance of the plane comes at a time when the aviation industry is already reeling from the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine last Thursday, the crash of TransAsia Airways Flight 222 in Taiwan on Wednesday and the suspension of flights to and from Tel Aviv this week because of rocket fire from Gaza. The Federal Aviation Administration lifted its ban on American flights to Israel overnight. |
| The Burkina Faso government statement said that the aircraft’s last contact with ground control came a few minutes after it had passed out of the country’s air space. The crew contacted air traffic controllers in Niamey, Niger, at 1:47 a.m. local time, informing them that the plane had encountered rough weather, the statement said. | The Burkina Faso government statement said that the aircraft’s last contact with ground control came a few minutes after it had passed out of the country’s air space. The crew contacted air traffic controllers in Niamey, Niger, at 1:47 a.m. local time, informing them that the plane had encountered rough weather, the statement said. |
| Officials gave varying counts of the nationalities of the passengers on the flight. The government statement listed 51 French citizens, 27 people from Burkina Faso, 8 Lebanese, 6 Algerians, 5 Canadians, 4 Germans, 2 people from Luxembourg, and one each from Switzerland, Belgium, Egypt, Ukraine, Nigeria, Cameroon and Mali. | Officials gave varying counts of the nationalities of the passengers on the flight. The government statement listed 51 French citizens, 27 people from Burkina Faso, 8 Lebanese, 6 Algerians, 5 Canadians, 4 Germans, 2 people from Luxembourg, and one each from Switzerland, Belgium, Egypt, Ukraine, Nigeria, Cameroon and Mali. |
| Preliminary figures offered by an Air Algérie representative, Kara Terki, at a news conference in Burkina Faso and reported by Reuters were slightly lower for France, Burkina Faso and Algeria and did not include the Germans or Canadians. Lebanese officials gave a higher figure, 10, for their citizens on the plane, and the Spanish pilots’ union said all six crew members were Spanish, news agencies reported. Mr. Terki said that all the passengers were bound for destinations beyond Algiers, in Europe, the Middle East or Canada, Reuters said. | Preliminary figures offered by an Air Algérie representative, Kara Terki, at a news conference in Burkina Faso and reported by Reuters were slightly lower for France, Burkina Faso and Algeria and did not include the Germans or Canadians. Lebanese officials gave a higher figure, 10, for their citizens on the plane, and the Spanish pilots’ union said all six crew members were Spanish, news agencies reported. Mr. Terki said that all the passengers were bound for destinations beyond Algiers, in Europe, the Middle East or Canada, Reuters said. |
| Mr. Hollande said that he had postponed a planned trip to the islands of La Reunion, Mayotte and Comoros and would remain in Paris to deal with the crisis. | |
| Swiftair said on Thursday that the missing jet, bearing the tail number EC-LTV, was built by McDonnell Douglas in 1996 and was equipped with two Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines. The manufacturer merged with Boeing in 1997, and the combined company discontinued production of MD-80 series jets two years later, but hundreds of the aircraft remain in wide use around the world. According to Ascend, an aviation consultancy in London, Swiftair owns five MD-83 jets, and leased two of them to Air Algérie in June. | Swiftair said on Thursday that the missing jet, bearing the tail number EC-LTV, was built by McDonnell Douglas in 1996 and was equipped with two Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines. The manufacturer merged with Boeing in 1997, and the combined company discontinued production of MD-80 series jets two years later, but hundreds of the aircraft remain in wide use around the world. According to Ascend, an aviation consultancy in London, Swiftair owns five MD-83 jets, and leased two of them to Air Algérie in June. |
| Air Algérie’s last major accident was in 2003, when Flight 6289, a Boeing 737, crashed shortly after takeoff from Tamanrasset in southern Algeria on its way to Algiers. Mechanical failure was blamed for the crash, which killed 102 people. More recently, an Algerian C-130 Hercules military transport plane bound for Constantine in the northeast crashed into a mountainside in February, killing 77 of the 78 people on board. Strong winds and poor visibility were blamed. | Air Algérie’s last major accident was in 2003, when Flight 6289, a Boeing 737, crashed shortly after takeoff from Tamanrasset in southern Algeria on its way to Algiers. Mechanical failure was blamed for the crash, which killed 102 people. More recently, an Algerian C-130 Hercules military transport plane bound for Constantine in the northeast crashed into a mountainside in February, killing 77 of the 78 people on board. Strong winds and poor visibility were blamed. |