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Air Algerie Flight AH5017 Crashes In West Africa |
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July 24, 2014 - An Air Algerie Flight AH5017 has
crashed in West Africa. All 116
onboard (110 passengers and a crew of 6) were
killed. The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 commercial
jetliner which was operated Spain based Swiftair
had departed Ouagadougou Airport, Burkina (West
Africa) at 0117 GMT for Houari Boumediene
Airport, Algiers, Algeria (North Africa); it was
to land at 0510 GMT.
Flight AH 5017 (registration EC-LTV) had
departed West Africa early today, enroute, over
northern Mali, air traffic control lost radar
contact with the jetliner about 50 minutes after
takeoff.
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Burkina Faso Transport Minister, Jean Bertin
Ouedrago said the pilot had requested from air
traffic control a change in its route due to a
storm in the area. "I can confirm that it has
crashed." It's has been reported that the
flight path Flight AH 5017 took had encountered
a powerful sandstorm overnight. This crash marks
the third major aviation disaster involving a
commercial airliner in a one week span,
following the downing of
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 17, 2014
and the crash of
TransAsia Airways Flight GE222 on July 23,
2014. The FAA has
warned aircraft against flying over Mali due to
the Northern Mali conflict. (Insurgent groups
fighting the Malian government for independence
in Azawad a
territory in northern Mali for the Tuareg
people). The specific threat to aircraft
includes anti-aircraft missiles, rockets, and
rocket-propelled grenades.
The FAA had sent out a
notice requiring U.S. operators and airmen
planning to fly into, out of, within, or over
Mali at or below FL240 that they must obtain
current threat information; comply with all
applicable FAA regulations, operations
specifications, management specifications, and
letters of authorization and provide advance
notice of planned operations to the FAA.
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