Air Algerie Loses Contact With Plane After Takeoff

[Cris]

Not a lot of information out there right now; hoping that everyone is safe.


"Air Algerie said it lost contact with one of its planes over Mali, Associated Press reports.

The airline says flight AH5017 lost contact 50 minutes after takeoff from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso in West Africa, and that it was en route to Algiers.

The plane, a Swiftair MD83, is carrying 110 passengers and 6 crew members, including two pilots and four cabin crew. Swiftair says the plane "has not reached its destination. Until now there has been no contact with the aircraft."

Air Algerie has initiated an "emergency plan" in the search for flight AH5017, which flies the four-hour passenger route four times a week."


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/air-...with-plane-after-takeoff-2014-7#ixzz38NY3QGn6

 

[ChasenSFO]

Not another one! My God... I really hope they turn up safe...but let's be real, we know how these things usually go...

 

[Murdoughnut]

There's your #3

 

[Cris]

Tragic day, tragic week, tragic year.

Some reports coming in that the plane, an MD-83, went down in Niger river.

Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/missing-air-algerie-flight-live-3905531

 

[tlewis95]

Ughh. It's becoming a crappy year for airlines.

The expert on CNN right now, David C. 'former FAA safety analyst' trying to explain wind shear right now reminds me of when I was teaching CFI students and they tried to explain something that they clearly didn't understand. Probably the worst and most aggravating expert I've seen. He generally just uses as many aviation terms as possible and telling me what the airplane 'thinks' and does 'automatically.'

Anyway...off goes the TV. I'll stick to JC as usual to learn more about it.

 

[ChasenSFO]

Did some research. I know Swiftair is a Spanish charter company, so it was no surprise all 5 crew are Spanish, but apparently ALL of the pax were connecting elsewhere. 80 French on board along with many others. Not a good time for European travelers...

This is the MD-80:

Probable crash site.

The airport's website in Burkina Faso claims:

Contact with the Airbus A320, not a DC9 as indicated in the first instance, was broken at 3:55 Thursday morning.

Yet, Swiftair who is only flying MD-83s for Air Algerie, already posted on their website they have a missing plane and all flight trackers indicate an MD-83. So the airport is oddly...wrong. At any rate, here is the rest of the info from the airport. You can translate it into English.
http://www.aeroport-ouagadougou.com/informations_aeroport.php?idnew=154

And already has a wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Algérie_Flight_5017

 

[chrisreedrules]

Update... They found the crash sight. RIP

 

[Vector4Food]

Reading on pprune, supposedly flight below FL240 is banned over Mali due to insurgent activity... although the rumours of severe weather seem a more reasonable explanation

 

[HVYMETALDRVR]

Jesus it's been a bad week. I hope it's not terrorism-related...

RIP

 

[surreal1221]

Reading on pprune, supposedly flight below FL240 is banned over Mali due to insurgent activity... although the rumours of severe weather seem a more reasonable explanation

Now we are thinking rationally.

Flying across and near the ITCZ is no joke. North Africa convection is meant to be respected. It would be wise for us to do our best to not speculate and use this as an opportunity to reflect on our own aeronautical decision making during flights in, or near, convection.

An absolute shame of a week though. Potentially two weather related accidents and a criminal act accident.

 

[dasleben]

ITCZ on even a "nice" day can be rather rough to fly through. RIP to all.

 

[SeanD]

WX looked to be in the pits when it went down. RIP

 

[ChasenSFO]

The wiki page has been updated and lots more reports out about it. Turns out there were 50 French on board, not 80, but all pax were confirmed to be connecting on. This crash is another example of how international air travel is and why so many countries have a stake in aviation safety world wide. Here is a snip I took from the wiki page about this flight.

 

[Jmcneill]

Such a terrible couple weeks in the industry. RIP.

 

[CaptBill]

Not making any assumptions on this accident, but WX seems to be more and more involved in accidents the past few years than normal. Just a suggestion....When you're flying at night, make sure you take a good look on a regular basis with your weather radar and know what's out there. I'm surprised to still occasionally run across pilots that are flying in pitch black conditions with the radar off for hours. You don't want to be surprised by a last second encounter with a stray cell topping out at 40 or 50k feet. I did it ONCE and it won't ever happen again. It's not fun!

 

[dustoff17]

Having flown this area a lot, I can say that the terrain and environment is a VERY unforgiving. RIP to all

 

[derg]

The crew's nationality, considering what happened with Iberia the last few years, seems reasonable.

Yup, it's been a crappy year for aviation, but statistically a better decade.

 

[Screaming_Emu]

Not making any assumptions on this accident, but WX seems to be more and more involved in accidents the past few years than normal. Just a suggestion....When you're flying at night, make sure you take a good look on a regular basis with your weather radar and know what's out there. I'm surprised to still occasionally run across pilots that are flying in pitch black conditions with the radar off for hours. You don't want to be surprised by a last second encounter with a stray cell topping out at 40 or 50k feet. I did it ONCE and it won't ever happen again. It's not fun!

Been there done that. That was probably the most...uhh...concerned I've ever been in an airplane.

People's drinks were all over the ceiling and walls. Somebody had to hold the flight attendant down on the ground. Plane was an absolute mess. The best part was after we landed, we called operations to get someone to come clean the airplane while we waited for MX to come do the turbulence inspection. "I'm sorry sir, the cleaners go home at 5pm."

 

[SeanD]

Not making any assumptions on this accident, but WX seems to be more and more involved in accidents the past few years than normal. Just a suggestion....When you're flying at night, make sure you take a good look on a regular basis with your weather radar and know what's out there. I'm surprised to still occasionally run across pilots that are flying in pitch black conditions with the radar off for hours. You don't want to be surprised by a last second encounter with a stray cell topping out at 40 or 50k feet. I did it ONCE and it won't ever happen again. It's not fun!

This. For the life of me I cant put my head around why they seem to have flown directly into the WX. I wonder if other countries somehow dont put much emphasis on weather conditions as much as we do here. Its sad. It seems like haste is factor as well.

 

[dustoff17]

This. For the life of me I cant put my head around why they seem to have flown directly into the WX. I wonder if other countries somehow dont put much emphasis on weather conditions as much as we do here. Its sad. It seems like haste is factor as well.

Reminds me of Flight 447. No reason for it....