Another summer day, another commercial airplane has gone missing. Malaysian Airlines’ flight MH370′s disappearance is still fresh in the minds of people all over the world as is their MH17 plane was shot down over the volatile Ukrainian airspace last week. A day after 48 people died and ten were injured when a TransAsia flight went down over the Penghu islands and 40 of the 298 MH17 victims’ bodies were returned to the Netherlands in somber fashion, Air Algérie, another airline overseas joined Malaysian Airlines as an airline in distress after losing contact with Flight 5017 after takeoff from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The plane’s 116 passengers were headed to Algiers.
Like Malaysian Airlines MH17 flew over a war zone, so did Air Algérie’s Flight 5017. the flight reportedly went missing as it flew over war torn Mali where a militant Islamist faction is battling the Malian government backed by French forces. It is believed that French nationalists were on board.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “The FAA has banned U.S. carriers of flying over Mali at lower altitudes. The FAA cited ‘insurgent activity,’ including the threat of antiaircraft missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and rockets. Apart from worries about insurgent threats in Mali, the Algerian government has been keeping a close watch on airspace on its eastern border, where violence in Libya has led to flight bans there.”
There are no further developments on the plane’s whereabouts at the moment. A more detailed look can be seen here.
The post Another Airplane Goes Missing, This Time Air Algérie Flight 5017 appeared first on Don Diva Magazine.