Robin McLaurin Williams July 21, 1951- August 11, 2014 (aged 63)

"Robin Williams 2011a (2)" by Eva Rinaldi → Flickr: Robin Williams - → This file has been extracted from another image: File:Robin Williams 2011a.jpg.. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Several factors led to a risk of collision for an aircraft landing at Toronto's Lester B. Pearson Airport in March 2013

Several factors led to a risk of collision for an aircraft landing at Toronto's Lester B. Pearson Airport in March 2013


Toronto, Ontario, 30 July 2014 – In its investigation report (A13O0045) released today, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) determined that a number of factors contributed to an unattended maintenance van crossing the active runway while an aircraft was landing at the Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport on 11 March 2013. There were no injuries.


A Sunwing Airlines aircraft maintenance technician was in a van parked near the nose of one of the company’s aircraft. The technician exited the van to perform various duties outside the aircraft and then boarded it to check the cockpit. Meanwhile, the van had rolled to and crossed the active arrival runway as an aircraft prepared to land. Air traffic control noticed a ground radar target as the driverless van crossed the runway, and instructed the Air Canada Embraer 190 to pull up and go around. Despite two calls to go around, the Air Canada flight continued its approach, flew over the van at a height of approximately 35 feet and landed.


The investigation found that the van rolled across the active arrival runway because it was left unattended with the engine running and the drive gear engaged. The first air traffic control instruction to the Embraer’s flight crew to go around was masked by the sound of the ground proximity warning system in the cockpit, and therefore not heard by the flight crew. The second go-around instruction went unnoticed by the flight crew because it was truncated and the crew did not hear the aircraft call sign. Without supporting visual cues, the crew did not interpret the second call as applying to them.


Following the occurrence, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) issued directives to the Toronto Pearson aviation community reiterating the prohibition against leaving vehicles idling and unsecured on the airside. The GTAA also published and disseminated information on the luminosity requirements for vehicle roof beacons and did spot checks to inspect beacons and require inoperative or inadequate beacons to be repaired or replaced. Sunwing Airlines reported to Transport Canada that it has inspected all of its airside vehicles and ensured that their roof beacons meet specified luminosity standards.


Risk of collisions on runways is a TSB Watchlist issue. Watch the video!




The TSB is an independent agency that investigates marine, pipeline, railway and aviation transportation occurrences. Its sole aim is the advancement of transportation safety. It is not the function of the Board to assign fault or determine civil or criminal liability.

About ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a UN specialized agency, created in 1944 upon the signing of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention).

About ICAO




The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a UN specialized agency, created in 1944 upon the signing of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention).

ICAO works with the Convention’s 191 Signatory States and global industry and aviation organizations to develop international Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) which are then used by States when they develop their legally-binding national civil aviation regulations.

There are currently over 10,000 SARPs reflected in the 19 Annexes to the Chicago Convention which ICAO oversees, and it is through these SARPs and ICAO’s complementary policy, auditing and capacity-building efforts that today’s global air transport network is able to operate over 100,000 daily flights, safely, efficiently and securely in every region of the world.

Annual Reports of the Council
Chicago Convention
Former Presidents of the ICAO Council
Former Secretaries General of the ICAO
Foundation of ICAO
International Civil Aviation Conference
How it works
Making a Standard

Swiftair

Swiftair

IATA
W3ICAO
SWTCallsign
SWIFT

Founded 1986
Subsidiaries
Mediterranean Air Freight
Swiftair Bahrain
Fleet size 40
Headquarters Madrid, Spain
Website http://www.swiftair.com/


Swiftair Boeing 737-300F at Madrid-Barajas Airport.

Swiftair S.A. is an airline headquartered in Madrid, Spain.[1] It operates scheduled and charter, passenger and cargo flights in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Its main base is Madrid–Barajas Airport.[citation needed]



Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Incidents
2 Fleet
2.1 Aircraft orders
3 References
4 External links


History[edit]

The airline was founded in 1986.[2] It wholly owns subsidiary Mediterranean Air Freight. Currently Swiftair is also a United Nations contractor with one MD-83 based in Khartoum (Sudan) for the United Nations Mission in Sudan.[citation needed]
Incidents[edit]

In October 1993 one of its aircraft was written off when the crew forgot to lower the landing gear as the plane arrived in Madrid.

In May 1995, another aircraft was damaged beyond repair during a botched landing at Vitoria airport in Spain.

In July 1998 two crew were killed when a cargo aircraft crashed en-route to Barcelona when the pilot lost control of the plane.

In January 2012 a plane sustained substantial damage during a botched landing at Kandahar.

On May 10, 2013 a MD83 operated by the company performed scheduled flight VY-3913 from Palma de Mallorca to Madrid for Spanish low-cost airline Vueling. The aircraft suffered an engine problem on take-off but returned safely to Palma de Mallorca.[3]

On July 24, 2014 a MD83 operated by the company performed scheduled flight AH5017 from Ouagadougou to Algiers for Algerian airline Air Algérie. The aircraft disappeared off radar 50 minutes after takeoff.[4]
Fleet[edit]

The Swiftair fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of 24 July 2014):[5]
6 ATR 42
1 ATR 42-300
4 ATR 42-300F
1 ATR 42-300QC
14 ATR 72
4 ATR 72-200 (1 operate by Air Europa)
6 ATR 72-200F
4 ATR 72-500 (2 operate for Antrak Air)
6 Boeing 737-300F (4 aircraft are operated for European Air Transport and one aircraft is operated for TNT Airways)
2 Boeing 737-400
10 Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia (Cargo division)
3 McDonnell Douglas MD-83(4 were suppose to be in the fleet but one crashed on lease to Air Algérie operating as Air Algérie Flight 5017)
Aircraft orders[edit]
Swiftair has selected the Boeing 737-300F (converted freighter) from Bedek Aviation (Israel Aerospace Industries) as the basis of its future European freighter fleet. The first aircraft was delivered in May 2007 on lease from AWAS.[6]
References[edit]

Jump up^ "Contact." Swiftair. Retrieved on 26 January 2011. "Ingeniero Torres Quevedo, 14 | Pol. Ind. “Fin de Semana” Crta. Madrid/Barcelona Km. 13.100 | 28022 - Madrid."
Jump up^ "About us." Swiftair. Retrieved on 26 January 2011.
Jump up^ http://avherald.com/h?article=4621d637&opt=0
Jump up^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Algérie_Flight_5017
Jump up^ Swiftair Fleet Details and History
Jump up^ "ATR 72 order for Swiftair". Airliner World. July 2007. p. 6.
External links[edit]

Spain portal
Companies portal
Aviation portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Swiftair.

Swiftair
Swiftair Fleet

McDonnell Douglas MD-80 Notable accidents and incidents

As of February 2013, the MD-80 series has been involved in 61 incidents,[26] including 31 hull-loss accidents,[27] with 1,330 fatalities of occupants.[28]
Notable accidents and incidents[edit]
On December 1, 1981, Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 1308, an MD-81 (YU-ANA) crashed into Corsica's Mt. San Pietro during a holding pattern for landing at Campo dell'Oro Airport, Ajaccio, France. All 180 passengers and crew were killed. This was the first-ever fatal incident involving the MD-80 series in non-U.S. service.
On August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 255, an MD-82 crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport due to flight crew's failure to use the taxi checklist to ensure the flaps and slats were extended for takeoff according to theNTSB. All crew and passengers were killed with the exception of a 4-year-old girl, Cecelia Cichan.[29]
On December 27, 1991, SAS Flight 751, an MD-81 OY-KHO "Dana Viking" crash-landed at Gottröra, Sweden. In the initial climb, both engines ingested ice broken loose from the wings (which had not been properly de-iced before departure). The ice damaged the compressor blades causing compressor stall. The stall further caused repeated engine surges that finally destroyed both engines, leaving the aircraft with no propulsion. The aircraft landed in a snowy field and broke in three parts. No fire occurred and all aboard survived.
On July 6, 1996, Delta Air Lines Flight 1288, an MD-88 attempting to take off from Pensacola Regional Airport experienced an uncontained, catastrophic turbine engine failure that caused debris from the front compressor hub of the number one left engine to penetrate the left aft fuselage. The impact left two passengers dead and two severely injured; all were from the same family. The pilot aborted takeoff and the airplane stopped on the runway.
On June 1, 1999, American Airlines Flight 1420, an MD-82 attempting to land in severe weather conditions at Little Rock Airport overshot the runway and crashed into the banks of the Arkansas River. Eleven people, including the captain, died.
On January 31, 2000, Alaska Airlines Flight 261, an MD-83, crashed in the Pacific Ocean, due to loss of horizontal stabilizer control.[30] All 88 passengers and crew on board were killed. Following the crash, an Acme nut and jackscrew recovered from the aircraft were found to be excessively worn[31] and found to be the cause of the crash due to inadequate maintenance. The FAA ordered airlines to inspect and lubricate the jackscrew more frequently.[32]
On October 8, 2001, Scandinavian Airlines Flight 686, a MD-87 SE-DMA collided with a small Cessna jet during take-off at Linate Airport, Milan, Italy. The Linate Airport disaster left 118 people dead. The cause of the accident was a misunderstanding between air traffic controllers and the Cessna jet, and the SAS crew had no role in causing the accident. Also the ground movement radar was inoperative at the time of the accident.
On May 7, 2002, China Northern Airlines Flight 6136, an MD-82, from Beijing to Dalian, crashed into Bohai Bay near Dalian, after the pilot reported "fire on board". All 112 people on board were killed. Investigators determined that the fire had been set by a suicidal passenger.
On November 30, 2004, Lion Air Flight 538, an MD-82 crashed on landing at Adi Sumarmo Airport in Surakarta, Indonesia, and overran the end of the runway, causing of the deaths of 25 passengers and crew.
On August 16, 2005, West Caribbean Airways Flight 708, an MD-82 crashed in a mountainous region in northwest Venezuela killing all 152 passengers and eight crew.[33]
On March 4, 2006, Lion Air Flight 8987, an MD-82, after landing at Juanda International Airport, applied reverse thrust although the reversers were stated to be out of order. This caused the aircraft to veer to the right and skid off the runway coming to rest 7,000 ft (2,100 m) from the approach end of Runway 10. No one was killed, but the aircraft sustained $3 million in damage.[34]
On March 16, 2007, a Kish Air MD-82, registration LZ-LDD leased from Bulgarian Air Charter was damaged beyond repair in a hard landing accident in Kish, Iran. There were no fatalities.
On September 16, 2007, One-Two-GO Airlines Flight 269, an MD-82 crashed at the side of the runway and exploded after an apparent attempt to execute a go-around in bad weather at Phuket International Airport in Phuket, Thailand. Eighty-nine of the 130 passengers and crew on board were killed.[35][36]
On November 30, 2007, Atlasjet Flight 4203, an MD-83 crashed in the southwestern province of Isparta, Turkey, killing all 57 passengers and 7 crew.[37] The cause of the crash was attributed to pilot spatial disorientation.
Between March 26 and March 27, 2008 and then again between April 8 and April 12, 2008, an FAA safety audit of American Airlines forced the airline to ground its entire fleet of MD-80 series aircraft (approximately 300), to inspect the aircraft's hydraulic wiring. American was forced to cancel nearly 2,500 flights in March and over 3,200 in April.[38] In addition, Delta Air Lines inspected its own MD-80 fleet to ensure its 117 MD-80s were also operating within regulation. This prompted Delta to cancel 275 flights.[39]
On August 20, 2008, Spanair Flight 5022, an MD-82 registration EC-HFP, from Madrid's Barajas Airport crashed shortly after takeoff on a flight to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. The MD-82 had 162 passengers and ten crew on board, of whom 18 survived. The crash was caused by attempting to take off with the flaps and slats retracted. The flight crew omitted the "set flaps and slats" item in both the After Start checklist and the Takeoff Imminent checklist.[40]
On November 19, 2009, Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation Flight 3711, MD-82 9Q-CAB, overran the runway on landing at Goma International Airport, and suffered substantial damage. The overrun area was contaminated by solidified lava.[41]
On June 21, 2010, Hewa Bora Airways Flight 601, MD-82 9Q-COQ, burst a tire on take-off from N'djili Airport, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Hydraulic systems and port engine were damaged and the nose gear did not lower when the aircraft returned to N'djili. All 110 people on board escaped uninjured. The airline blamed the state of the runway for the accident, but investigators found no fault with the runway.[42]
On January 24, 2012, Swiftair Flight 94, MD-83 registration EC-JJS, suffered a wingtip strike while landing at Kandahar Airport, Afghanistan. Although there were no injuries among the 92 passengers and crew on board, the starboard wing sustained a broken main spar and the aircraft was damaged beyond economic repair. It was consequently scrapped at Kandahar.[43]
On June 3, 2012, Dana Air Flight 992, an MD-83 registration 5N-RAM, crashed into a two-story building in Lagos, Nigeria, caused by engine failure. All 153 passengers and crew on board were killed, as well as 10 on the ground.[44][45][46][47]
On July 24, 2014, Air Algérie Flight 5017, a scheduled flight from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to Algiers, Algeria operated by a MD-83 leased from Swiftair, with 110 passengers and 6 crew on board crashed near Gao, Mali after violent storms in the area.[48]

McDonnell Douglas DC-9 Notable accidents

Notable accidents
On October 1, 1966, West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashed with eighteen fatalities and no survivors. This accident marks the first loss of a DC-9.[26]
On March 9, 1967, TWA Flight 553 fell to earth in a field in Concord Township, near Urbana, Ohio, following a mid-air collision with a Beechcraft Baron, an accident that triggered substantial changes in air traffic control procedures.[27] All 25 people on board the DC-9 were killed.
On March 16, 1969, Viasa Flight 742, a DC-9-32, crashed into the La Trinidad neighborhood of Maracaibo during a failed take-off. All 84 people on board the aircraft, as well as 71 people on the ground, were killed. With 155 dead in all, this was the deadliest crash involving a member of the original DC-9 family, as well as the worst crash in aviation history at the time it took place.[28]
On June 27, 1969, Douglas DC-9-31 N906H of Hawaiian Airlines collided on the ground with Vickers Viscount N7410 of Aloha Airlines at Honolulu International Airport. The Viscount was damaged beyond repair.[29]
On September 9, 1969, Allegheny Airlines Flight 853, a DC-9-30, collided in mid-air with a Piper PA-28 Cherokee near Fairland, Indiana. The DC-9 carried 78 passengers and 4 crew members, the Piper one pilot. The occupants of both aircraft were killed in the accident and the aircraft were destroyed.[30][31]
On February 15, 1970, a Dominicana de Aviación DC-9 crashed after taking off from Santo Domingo, in what is known as the Dominicana DC-9 air disaster. The crash, possibly caused by contaminated fuel, killed all 102 passengers and crew, including champion boxer Teo Cruz.[32][33]
On May 2, 1970, an Overseas National Airways DC-9, wet-leased to ALM Dutch Antilles Airlines and operating as ALM Flight 980, ditched in the Caribbean Sea on a flight from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to Princess Juliana International Airport on Saint Maarten. After three landing attempts in poor weather at Saint Maarten, the pilots began to divert to their alternate of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands but ran out of fuel 30 mi (48 km) short of the island. After about 10 minutes, the aircraft sank in 5,000 ft (1524 m) of water and was never recovered. 40 people survived the ditching, 23 perished.[34]
On November 14, 1970, Southern Airways Flight 932, a DC-9, crashed into a hill near Tri-State Airport in Huntington, West Virginia. All 75 on board were killed (including 37 members of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team, eight members of the coaching staff, 25 boosters, and others).
On June 6, 1971, Hughes Airwest Flight 706, midair collision between commercial DC-9 and a U.S. Marine Corp jet. All 49 people on board the DC-9 died; one of two pilots from the F-4E Phantom ejected and survived.
On January 21, 1972, a Turkish Airlines DC-9-32 TC-JAC diverted to Adana, Turkey after pressurization problems. The aircraft hit the ground downwind on the 2nd approach and caught fire. There were only one fatality.[citation needed]
On January 26, 1972, JAT Flight 367, in flight from Copenhagen to Belgrade, DC-9-32 registration YU-AHT, was destroyed in flight by a bomb placed on board. The sole survivor was a flight attendant, Vesna Vulović, who holds the record for the world's longest fall without a parachute when she fell some 33,000 ft (10,000 m) inside the tail section of the airplane and survived.
On November 10–11, 1972, Southern Airways Flight 49 was hijacked while departing Birmingham, Alabama's airport by three armed men. The hijackers then proceeded to fly the passengers and crew to multiple locations in the United States, Canada, and Cuba, including Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the less-than-demanded ransom money was delivered, the now-defunct McCoy Air Force Base in Orlando, Florida, where the FBI shot out two of the DC-9's four main landing wheels, and Havana, where the 30 hours and 4,000 miles (6,400 km) odyssey came to an end with no fatalities or injuries between the passengers and crew members. This incident is notable for being the first hijacking in which an aircraft left Cuba with the hijackers on board.[35]
On December 20, 1972, North Central Airlines Flight 575, DC-9-31 registration N954N, collided during its takeoff roll with Delta Air Lines Flight 954, a Convair CV-880 that was taxiing across the same runway at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, in what is known as the 1972 Chicago-O'Hare runway collision. The DC-9 was destroyed, killing 10 and injuring 15 of the 45 people on board; two people among the 93 aboard the Convair 880 suffered minor injuries.[36]
On July 31, 1973, Delta Air Lines Flight 723, DC-9-31 registration N975NE, crashed into a seawall at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, killing all 83 passengers and 6 crew members on board. One of the passengers initially survived the accident but later died in a hospital.
On September 11, 1974, Eastern Air Lines Flight 212, a DC-9-30 crashed just short of the runway at Charlotte, North Carolina, killing 71 out of the 82 occupants.
On October 30, 1975, an Inex-Adria Aviopromet DC-9-32 hit high ground during an approach in fog near Prague-Suchdol, Czechoslovakia. 75 people were killed.[37]
On September 10, 1976, an Inex-Adria Aviopromet DC-9-31 collided with a British Airways Trident over the Croatian town of Vrbovec, killing all 176 people aboard both aircraft and another person on the ground, in what is known as the 1976 Zagreb mid-air collision.
On April 4, 1977, Southern Airways Flight 242, a DC-9-31, lost engine power in a storm then crash landed onto a highway in New Hope, Georgia, US, striking road side buildings. The crash and fire resulted in the death of both flight crew and 61 passengers. Nine people on the ground also died. Both flight attendants and 20 passengers survived.[38][39]
On June 26, 1978, Air Canada Flight 189, a DC-9 overran the runway in Toronto after a blown tire aborted the takeoff. Two of the 107 passengers and crew were killed.[40]
On September 14, 1979, Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 12, a DC-9-32 crashed in the mountains near Cagliari, Italy while approaching Cagliari-Elmas Airport. All 27 passengers and 4 crew members died in the crash and ensuing fire.[41]


On June 27, 1980, Aerolinee Itavia Flight 870, a DC-9-15 suffered an in-flight explosion and crashed into the sea near the Italian island of Ustica. All 81 passeners and crew on board were killed. Italian prosecutors and the Parliament Commissions came to the conclusion that the DC-9 was mistakenly identified by French, US and Italian fighters as an executive jet believed to be carrying Libyan leader M. Qaddafi and shot down.[42][43][44]
On July 27, 1981, Aeroméxico Flight 230, a DC-9 ran off the runway in Chihuahua. Bad weather and pilot error were blamed.
On June 2, 1983, Air Canada Flight 797, a DC-9 experienced an electrical fire in the aft lavatory during flight, resulting in an emergency landing at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. During evacuation, the sudden influx of oxygen caused a flash fire throughout the cabin, resulting in the deaths of 23 of the 41 passengers, including Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers. All five crew members survived.
On December 7, 1983, the Madrid Runway Disaster took place where a departing Iberia Boeing 727 struck an Aviaco Douglas DC-9 causing the death of 93 passengers and crew. All 42 passengers and crew on board the DC-9 were killed.
On August 31, 1986, Aeroméxico Flight 498 collided in mid-air with a Piper Cherokee over the city of Cerritos, California, then crashed into the city, killing all 67 aboard the aircraft, 15 people on the ground, and all 3 in the small plane.
On April 4, 1987, Garuda Indonesia Flight 035, a DC-9-32, hit a pylon and crashed on approach to Polonia International Airport in bad weather with 24 fatalities.[45]
On December 3, 1990, Northwest Airlines Flight 1482, a DC-9-14, went on the wrong taxiway in dense fog at Detroit-Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Michigan (DTW). It entered the active runway instead of taxiway instructed by air traffic controllers. It collided with a departing Northwest Boeing 727. Nine people were killed.[46][47]
On April 18, 1993, Japan Air System Flight 451, a DC-9-41 JA8448 crashed while landing at Hanamaki Airport in Japan. There were 19 injuries, all of them 77 passengers and crew survived. The aircraft was written off.[48]
On June 21, 1993, Garuda Indonesia Flight 630, a DC-9-32 PK-GNT landed heavily on runway 09 (forces of 5g) and taxied safely to apron at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. Major structural damage was discovered there. The aircraft was high on approach, which was overcorrected, causing the aircraft coming too low. Thrust was increased and the DC-9 then struck the runway in a nose up attitude. No deaths.
On July 2, 1994, USAir Flight 1016, a DC-9-31 N954VJ crashed in Charlotte, North Carolina while performing a go-around because of heavy storms and wind shear at the approach of runway 18R. There were 37 fatalities and 15 injured among the passengers and crew. Although the airplane came to rest in a residential area with the tail section striking a house, there were no fatalities or injuries on the ground.
On May 11, 1996, ValuJet Flight 592, a DC-9-32 N904VJ crashed in the Florida Everglades due to a fire caused by the activation of chemical oxygen generators illegally stored in the hold. The fire damaged the plane's electrical system and eventually overcame the crew, resulting in the deaths of 110 people.
On October 10, 1997, Austral Flight 2553, a DC-9-32 registration LV-WEG, en route from Posadas to Buenos Aires, crashed near Fray Bentos, Uruguay, killing all 69 passengers and 5 crew on board.[49]
On February 2, 1998, Cebu Pacific Flight 387, a DC-9-32 RP-C1507 crashed on the slopes of Mount Sumagaya in Misamis Oriental, Philippines, killing all 104 passengers and crew on board. Aviation investigators deemed the incident to be caused by pilot error when the plane made a non-regular stopover to Tacloban.
On November 9, 1999, TAESA Flight 725 crashed a few minutes after leaving the Uruapan Airport en route to Mexico City. 18 people were killed in the accident.[50]
On October 6, 2000, Aeroméxico Flight 250, a DC-9-31 en route from Mexico City to Reynosa, Mexico, could not stop at end of runway and crashed into houses and fell into a small canal. Four people on the ground were killed. None of 83 passengers and 5 crew members were killed. The DC-9 was heavily damaged and classified as a loss. The runway had seen heavy rainfall as a result of Hurricane Keith.[51]
On April 15, 2008, a Hewa Bora Airways DC-9 crashed into a residential neighborhood, in the Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo,[52] resulting in the deaths of at least 44 people,[53] in what is known as the 2008 Goma DC-9 crash.
On July 6, 2008, USA Jet Airlines Flight 199, a DC-9-15F, crashed after taking off from Shreveport, LA airport bound for Saltillo, Mexico. The captain died and first officer were seriously injured.[54] The accident investigation results have not yet been released.[citation needed]

Air Algerie Flight AH5017 wreckage spotted in northeastern Mali, president says 5 Canadians among 116 aboard plane that is presumed to have crashed

Air Algerie Flight AH5017 wreckage spotted in northeastern Mali, president says5 Canadians among 116 aboard plane that is presumed to have crashed

Airline safety: Is it safer to fly, drive or take the train?
Airline safety: Flight MH17 downing hurts perception of air travel
Gaza conflict: Air Canada resumes Tel Aviv flights as FAA ban lifted


The wreckage of an Air Algerie flight with 116 people on board, including five Canadians, has been spotted between two northeastern Mali towns, according to the country's president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

"I have just been informed that the wreckage has been found between Aguelhok and Kidal," Keita said during a meeting of political, religious and civil society leaders in Bamako, according to Reuters. He did not give any more details.



The plane was on its way from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, to the Algerian capital Algiers when it disappeared from radar and lost contact with air traffic controllers early morning local time on Thursday.

Prior to Keita's announcement, Radio France internationale, the international service of Radio France, reported that the wreckage had been spotted north of the community of Aguelhok in the region of Kidal in northeastern Mali.

RFI reported that residents in the region heard loud explosions early Thursday morning and alerted the armed forces present in the region.
'Believe the plane crashed'

"Everything allows us to believe this plane crashed in Mali," French President Francois Hollande said in a statement after an emergency meeting in Paris with senior officials, adding the crew changed its flight path because of "particularly difficult weather conditions."

Air navigation services lost track of the MD-83 about 50 minutes after takeoff, at 9:55 p.m. ET Wednesday, the official Algerian news agency APS said

French fighter jets were among the aircraft scouring the rugged northern Mali region for signs of the plane.

The flight was being operated by Spanish airline Swiftair, the company said in a statement. The Spanish pilots' union said the plane belonged toSwiftair.
Is it safer to fly, drive or take the train?
Airline safety: Flight MH17 downing hurts perception of air travel

The plane sent its last message around 9:30 p.m. ET asking Niger air control to change its route because of heavy rains in the area, Burkina Faso Transport Minister Jean Bertin Ouedraogo said.

Lynne Yelich, Canada's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, tweeted that the government is aware of the reports of Canadians on board and that they are seeking more information, but that consular officials are ready to provide assistance.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of all those on board AirAlgerie Flight AAH 5017," said one of the tweets.



French Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier said the Air Algerie flight vanished over northern Mali. He spoke Thursday from a crisis centre set up in the French Foreign Ministry. Cuvillier didn't specify exactly where the plane disappeared over Mali, or whether it was in an area controlled by rebels.

But Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said on Algerian state television that 10 minutes before disappearing, it was in contact with air traffic controllers in Gao, a city essentially under the control of the Malian government, though it has seen lingering separatist violence.

The six crew members are Spanish, according to the Spanish pilots' union, and the passengers aboard the jet include:
51 French.
27 Burkina Faso nationals,
Eight Lebanese.
Six Algerians.
Five Canadians.
Four Germans.
Two Luxemburg nationals.
One Swiss, one Belgian, one Egyptian, one Ukrainian, one Nigerian, one Cameroonian and one Malian.
Plane missing for hours

The plane had been missing for hours before the news was made public. It wasn't immediately clear why airline or government officials didn't make it public earlier.

Northern Mali fell under control of ethnic Tuareg separatists and then al-Qaeda-linked Islamic extremists following a military coup in 2012. A French-led intervention last year scattered the extremists, but theTuaregs have pushed back against the authority of the Bamako-based government.

A senior French official said it seems unlikely that fighters in Mali had the kind of weaponry that could shoot down a plane.

Swiftair, a private Spanish airline, said the plane was carrying 110 passengers and six crew, and left Burkina Faso for Algiers at 9:17 p.m. ET Wednesday, but had not arrived at the scheduled time of 1:10 a.m. ET Thursday.

Swiftair said it has not been possible to make contact with the plane and was trying to ascertain what had happened. It said the crew included two pilots and four cabin staff.

"In keeping with procedures, Air Algerie has launched its emergency plan," APS quoted the airline as saying.

The MD-83 is part of a series of jets built since the early 1980s by McDonnell Douglas, a U.S. plane maker now owned by Boeing Co. The MD-80s were the workhorse of domestic air travel in the U.S. and are used for a flights of a few hours over land elsewhere.

The report that five Canadians were on the Air Algerie flight comes a week after a Canadian – Andrei Anghel, 24, from Ajax, Ont. – was among the nearly 300 who perished when a Malaysian passenger plane was shot down over Eastern Ukraine in an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels.
Gathering at airport

Said Chitour, an Algiers-based freelance reporter, said some of the passengers’ loved ones have gathered at the airport there to await any news.



The search for the plane will be difficult, Chitour said, as it was set to cross a large swath of the desert.

“It’s a very tough area where there’s nothing … it’s the middle of nowhere, really,” Chitour told CBC News Network.



Corrections

An earlier version of this story based on Reuters information identified the missing jet as an Airbus A320. It is, in fact, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83.