Timeline of Air Algerie plane crash in Mali
Here is a short timeline of events that led to the crash of Air Algerie Flight AH 5017 in northern Mali that killed at least 116 people, 54 of whom were French.
-- THURSDAY, JULY 24 --
- 0105 GMT: A McDonnell Douglas MD-83 chartered from the Spanish company Swiftair, takes off from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso on a regular flight to Algiers.
- 0148 GMT: The Spanish crew signals a change in course owing to very bad weather conditions.
- 0155 GMT: Last radar contact as the plane passes over northern Mali.
- Later in the morning, Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal declares that "the plane disappeard over Gao, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the Algerian border, and that there are "victims".
- Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger launch searches around Gao, while French Mirage 2000 jets take off from two African bases to join the effort.
- 1500 GMT: French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius say the passenger jet "probably crashed" near Gao, and an official investigation is launched.
- 1645 GMT: French President Francois Hollande cancels a trip to Indian Ocean countries because "all evidence suggests the plane has crashed."
- Fabius says he does not rule out any reason for the crash, but notes that a weather alert had been issued in the region.
- Around 1900 GMT: Contradictory information circulates on where the debris lies. Burkina Faso puts it in the Malian region of Gossi, and a French surveillance drone is sent over the zone.
- 0000 GMT: French troops sent by helicopter reach the site and formally identify the plane.
-- FRIDAY, JULY 25 --
- Around 0100 GMT: A statement by Hollande's office says the plane has been found in the Gossi region in a "disintegrated state."
A French army unit of about 100 soldiers reaches the zone around daybreak.
- 0700 GMT: French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says that weather conditions are "the most probable hypothesis" for the crash.
Junior transport minister Frederic Cuvillier says that France had quickly ruled the possibility of ground fire being a cause.
- 0845 GMT: Hollande says "there are no survivors," that one of the plane's flight recorders has been found, and that the debris field is limited, which means the plane was probably intact when it hit the ground.
- 1316 GMT: Fabius says there were 54 French passengers on board, including some dual nationals.
- Hollande's office says the plane was carrying 112 passengers and six crew members. Swiftair says the plane was carrying 116 passengers and crew.
