Algeria’s national airline says it has lost contact with a plane carrying 110 passengers and six crew after it disappeared off the radar on a flight from Burkina Faso to Algiers.
Flight 5017 lost radar contact 50 minutes after takeoff from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, early Thursday. It was supposed to arrive at Algiers’ Houari Boumediene Airport about four hours later.
The plane, an MD-83, was carrying 110 passengers, two pilots and four crew members. The MD-83 is part of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 family of twin-engine, single-aisle jets.
“We have lost contact with the plane,” Swiftair said.
“At this moment, emergency services and our staff are working on finding out more on this situation.”
Air Algerie said via Twitter, “Unfortunately, for the moment we have no more information than you do. We will give you the latest news live.”
France is actively seeking more information about the location of the missing flight, following unconfirmed reports that many French citizens may have been on board.
“We are entirely mobilized in Paris as well as in Algiers and Ouagadougou where our embassies are in constant contact with local authorities and the airline,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that a hotline number has been established.
Air Algerie is Algeria’s national airline, with flights to 28 countries.