Passenger Jet Carrying 116 Vanishes From Radar

A passenger plane has disappeared from radar while flying from the West African country of Burkina Faso. The jet carrying 110 passengers and six crew was travelling from Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou to the Algerian capital Algiers when it vanished around 50 minutes into the flight. "In keeping with procedures, Air Algerie has launched its emergency plan," Algeria's APS state news agency quoted the airline as saying. Flight AH5017 is owned by Spanish private airline Swiftair and operated by Air Algerie. Swiftair said the aircraft took off from Burkina Faso at 1.17am local time and was supposed to land in Algiers at 5.10am local time but never reached its destination. The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 had been missing for hours before news of its disappearance was made public. Its flight path was not immediately clear. Ouagadougou is in a nearly straight line south of Algiers, separated by Mali where unrest continues in the north of the country. Airlines had been warned not to fly over Mali in recent days, Sky News understands. However, a senior French official said it is unlikely that fighters in Mali could shoot down a plane. They are known to have shoulder-fired weapons which could not hit an aircraft travelling at a cruising altitude of some 33,000ft. Sky's Alistair Bunkall said there are reports in the Algerian media that the plane crashed after running out of fuel. But given the plane was 50 minutes - or about 300 miles - into its journey that is unlikely to be a cause, he said. Swiftair has a fleet of more than 30 planes flying in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.