Air Algérie Flight 5017
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Air Algérie Flight 5017 (AH 5017) was a scheduled international passenger flight from
Ouagadougou Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...
,
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
, to
Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...
,
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
, which crashed near Gossi,
Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
, on 24 July 2014. The
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gener ...
twinjet was operated by
Swiftair Swiftair S.A. is an airline whose headquarters are in Madrid, Spain. It operates scheduled and charter, passenger, and cargo flights in Europe, North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern p ...
for
Air Algérie Air Algérie SpA (, ) is the flag carrier of Algeria, with its head office in the El-Djazair office block in Algiers. With flights operating mostly from Houari Boumedienne Airport in Algiers and Ahmed Ben Bella Airport in Oran, Air Algérie op ...
, disappeared from radar about fifty minutes after take-off. All 110 passengers and 6 crew members on board died. The French
Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety The Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (, BEA) is an agency of the French government, responsible for investigating aviation accidents and incidents and making safety recommendations based on what is learned from those inve ...
(BEA), assisting the Malian authorities, published an investigation report in April 2016, concluding that, while the aircraft was cruising on
autopilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of a vehicle without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator's control of the vehicle, allow ...
, ice accretion on the engines caused a reduction of thrust that led to a high-altitude stall. The crew was unable to recover from the stall, and the aircraft crashed to the ground. The BEA issued several recommendations to Air Algérie, the US
Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
, and the Governments of Burkina Faso and Mali. Until the fatality rate for 2023 crash of an Il-76 in Gao is confirmed, the crash of Flight 5017 remains the deadliest accident in Malian aviation history.


Accident

Flight 5017 departed from
Ouagadougou Airport Ouagadougou Airport , officially Thomas Sankara International Airport Ouagadougou, is an international airport in the center of the capital city of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. It was built in the 1960s, and it is approximately southeast of t ...
at 1:15 local time (
UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...
) on 24 July 2014. It was scheduled to land at
Houari Boumediene Airport Houari Boumediene International Airport () , also known as Algiers Airport or Algiers International Airport, is the main international airport serving Algiers, the capital of Algeria. It is located east southeast of the city. The airport is n ...
,
Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...
, at 5:10 local time (4:10 UTC). The aircraft reached cruise altitude,
flight level In aviation, a flight level (FL) is an aircraft's altitude as determined by a pressure altimeter using the International Standard Atmosphere. It is expressed in hundreds of feet or metres. The altimeter setting used is the ISA sea level pressur ...
310 (), 22 minutes after departure and attained its target speed of ( IAS). About two minutes later, it began to gradually lose speed, and, though the speed did eventually drop to , the aircraft maintained FL310. After an unspecified length of time had passed, the aircraft began to descend, and the speed dropped to about . Afterwards, the aircraft entered a left-hand turn and began to lose altitude more rapidly, thus spiralling down. The flight data recording stopped at 1:47; at the time, the aircraft was at an altitude of and a speed of . It crashed into the ground at above sea level about a second later. On 28 July, it was revealed that the flight crew had asked to return to
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
, after first requesting to deviate from course because of bad weather. There was a
mesoscale convective system A mesoscale convective system (MCS) is a complex of thunderstorms that becomes organized on a scale larger than the individual thunderstorms but smaller than extratropical cyclones, and normally persists for several hours or more. A mesoscale conv ...
in the area at the time, and the aircraft had deviated to the left of its course to avoid it. Satellite images apparently identifying the light flare from the aircraft impact at the margins of the storm were captured. Initially there were conflicting reports of the location of the crash. The aircraft's flight route took it over Mali, and it was reported to have disappeared between
Gao Gao (or Gawgaw/Kawkaw) is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an imp ...
and
Tessalit Tessalit is a Communes of Mali, rural commune and village in the Kidal Region of Mali. The village is the administrative centre of Tessalit Cercle (district). The village lies north of Aguelhok, Adjelhoc and about from the Algerian border. Th ...
.
French forces The French Armed Forces (, ) are the military forces of France. They consist of four military branches – the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force, and the National Gendarmerie. The National Guard serves as the French Armed Forces' military ...
reported detecting wreckage of the aircraft in an area between
Gao Gao (or Gawgaw/Kawkaw) is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an imp ...
and
Kidal Kidal ( Tuareg Berber: ⴾⴸⵍ, KDL, Kidal) is a town and commune in the desert region of northern Mali. The town lies northeast of Gao and is the capital of the Kidal Cercle and the Kidal Region. The commune has an area of about and incl ...
, in a desert region that is difficult to access. France sent a military unit to secure the wreckage of the
Air Algérie Air Algérie SpA (, ) is the flag carrier of Algeria, with its head office in the El-Djazair office block in Algiers. With flights operating mostly from Houari Boumedienne Airport in Algiers and Ahmed Ben Bella Airport in Oran, Air Algérie op ...
plane. Malian President
Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (; 29 January 1945 – 16 January 2022), often known by his initials IBK, was a Malian politician who served as the president of Mali from September 2013 to August 2020, when he was forced to resign in the 2020 Malian cou ...
said wreckage had been found in the country's northern desert, between
Aguelhok Aguelhok, also known as Adjelhoc (the official name), is a rural commune and village in the Kidal Region of eastern Mali in the Tessalit Cercle. In the census of 2009 the commune had a population of 8,080. Geography Adjelhoc is situated in the ...
and Kidal. There were also reports of wreckage being found near the town of Tilemsi in Mali, with officials from
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
,
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
, and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
having issued conflicting details.


Aircraft

The aircraft involved in the accident was a
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gener ...
,
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53190, line number 2148. It was powered by two
Pratt & Whitney JT8D The Pratt & Whitney JT8D is a low-bypass (0.96 to 1) turbofan engine introduced by Pratt & Whitney in February 1963 with the inaugural flight of the Boeing 727. It was a modification of the Pratt & Whitney J52 turbojet engine which powered the ...
engines and first flew in June 1996 and was 18 years old at the time of the accident. The aircraft was acquired by Swiftair, a charter flight operator, and re-
registered Registered may refer to: * Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody * Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...
EC-LTV in 2012 after being used by several airlines such as Flash Airlines and
Avianca Avianca S.A. (acronym in Spanish for ''Aerovias de Colombia S.A.'', "Airways of Colombia", and stylized as avianca since October 2023) is the largest airline in Colombia. It has been the flag carrier of Colombia since December 5, 1919, when it ...
since it was delivered in 1996. It was wet-leased to Air Algérie in June 2014 to provide additional capacity during the summer 2014 season. At the time of its loss, EC-LTV had flown 32,000 cycles. The director of the
Directorate General for Civil Aviation The Directorate General for Civil Aviation (, DGAC) is the French civil aviation authority. Its headquarters are in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, 50 Henry-Farman. It is subordinate to the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and E ...
(DGAC) of France, Patrick Gandil, said the plane had been checked in France "two or three days ago" and that it was "in good condition".


Passengers and crew

There were 110 passengers on the plane; of those, 52 were French citizens, at least 33 of whom were French military personnel serving in Africa including three senior intelligence officials. A senior
Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
leader who had been posing as a businessman in
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
and
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
was also on board. Others came from
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
,
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
,
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
,
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,
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,
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and
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
. An Air Algérie representative in Burkina Faso, Kara Terki, told a news conference that all passengers were in transit to Europe, the Middle East, or Canada. The number of persons holding multiple citizenship onboard was apparently high. The Lebanese embassy in
Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...
estimated the number of Lebanese citizens on the flight, some of whom had dual nationality, was at least 20. One Chilean had French nationality. There was initial uncertainty about the exact number of French citizens and number of passengers on board. On 25 July, French President
François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...
stated that there were no survivors. All of the victims had been identified by 19 November, nearly 4 months after the accident. The crew members of Flight 5017 were Captain Agustín Comerón Mogio (47), First Officer Isabel Gost Caimari (42), and four flight attendants; all six were Spanish. Captain Comerón had accumulated a total flying experience of 12,988 flying hours, including 8,689 as a captain, in which 10,007 flying hours were on the type. From 1989 to 1994, he became a co-pilot on a
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gener ...
with Centennial. From 1997 to 2012, he became a co-pilot, and subsequently promoted to a captain on an MD-80 in
Spanair Spanair S.A. was a Spanish airline, with its head office in the Spanair Building in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, near Barcelona. Until 2009, it was a subsidiary of the SAS Group; the same parent company in control of Scandinavian Airlines and held ...
. He finally joined
Swiftair Swiftair S.A. is an airline whose headquarters are in Madrid, Spain. It operates scheduled and charter, passenger, and cargo flights in Europe, North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern p ...
as a captain on an MD-80. He also had served for the UN mission in Africa based in
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, Sudan. He had flown an aircraft to various places in Africa including to
Ouagadougou Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...
. From the start of his operations with
Air Algerie An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...
on 20 June 2014, Captain Mogio had carried out 45 flights and 100 flying hours. First Officer Gost had accumulated a total flying experience of 7,016 flying hours including 6,180 flying hours as a co-pilot on MD-80. Since 20 June 2014, date of the start of operations with Air Algerie, First Officer Gost had carried out 43 flights and 93 flying hours. From 1995 to 1998, she became a dispatcher at
Spanair Spanair S.A. was a Spanish airline, with its head office in the Spanair Building in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, near Barcelona. Until 2009, it was a subsidiary of the SAS Group; the same parent company in control of Scandinavian Airlines and held ...
; From 1998 to 2012, as a co-pilot on an MD-80 in Spanair, and on 1 June 2013 she joined Swiftair S.A. as a co-pilot on an MD-80. Between 1998 and 2012, as a co-pilot with Spanair, she had flown to various aerodromes in Africa, including the one at
Ouagadougou Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...
.


Aftermath


Search effort

The wreckage was found southeast of Gossi, Mali, and
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
personnel moved to secure the crash site on 25 July. French television showed images of the wreckage site taken by a soldier from Burkina Faso. The brief footage showed a desolate area with scattered debris that was unrecognizable. There were bits of twisted metal but no identifiable parts such as the fuselage or tail, or victims' bodies. Scrubby vegetation could be seen scattered in the background. A French Reaper drone based in Niger spotted the wreckage after getting alerts from Burkina Faso and Malian soldiers. French soldiers were the first to reach the site. Burkina Faso's prime minister, Luc Adolphe Tiao, reviewed videos of the wreckage site and said that identifying the victims would be challenging.


Reactions

Because most of those on board were French citizens, France declared three days of national mourning following the crash. Flags flew at half mast on every public building from 28 July for three days. Algeria also declared a three-day mourning period. Burkina Faso also began two days of mourning over the crash which killed 28 Burkina Faso citizens. During the mourning period, flags in Burkina Faso flew at half mast while all public celebrations were cancelled. The Burkinabé Minister for National Security assured the families of victims that the government would do all it can to shed light on the circumstances leading to the crash. During October 2014, Air Algerie officially retired flight numbers AH5016 and AH5017 to honor the lives of those lost in the crash. On 24 July 2015, one year after the crash, a vigil and memorial to the victims was held in Ouagadougou. Relatives of the crash laid flowers and candles at a cemetery, and it was stated that the remains of unidentified victims of the crash would be buried in
Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...
, the capital of Mali.


Investigation

The Malian authorities opened an investigation, with the President of the Mali Commission of Inquiry () as the director, and the French ''
Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety The Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (, BEA) is an agency of the French government, responsible for investigating aviation accidents and incidents and making safety recommendations based on what is learned from those inve ...
'' (BEA) provided technical assistance. On 27 July, BEA investigators arrived at the crash site to collect evidence. Both black boxes were recovered, and data from the
flight data recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to colloquially as a "black box", an outdated nam ...
(FDR) was read out. The
cockpit voice recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to colloquially as a "black box", an outdated nam ...
(CVR) had been damaged in the impact and repaired, but "the recordings that he magnetic tapecontains are unusable, due apparently to a recorder malfunction, with no link to the damage that resulted from the accident". As a result, the investigation prioritized alternative sources, like records of air-traffic transmissions. On 7 August, the investigation team held a press conference at BEA's headquarters in Paris. They outlined the team structure (three international working groups assigned to the "aircraft", "systems" and "operations" each) and presented an abridged timeline and a reconstruction of the aircraft's flight path. An interim report was scheduled to be published mid-September. Following the conference, Gérard Feldzer, an aviation expert, told
BFMTV BFM TV (, stylized as BFMTV) is a French news broadcast television and radio network, wholly owned by RMC BFM. The flagship property of the RMC BFM division of CMA CGM, its headquarters are located in Paris. As the country's most-watched news ...
that the aircraft trajectory recorded by the FDR strongly suggested the plane had stalled in bad weather. On 20 September, the BEA released an interim report into the crash. The report contained data extracted from the FDR, as well as an explanation why the CVR is mostly unusable: the CVR did record the cockpit noises and conversations on the magnetic tape, but without erasing the existing content first, so that the record is a mix of numerous hours of recording on a 32-minute tape. Parts of the radio exchanges with ATC could be made out, but it is not known whether the remainder of the cockpit conversations, for which no external recording exists, will be able to be determined. On 2 April 2015, the BEA announced that a consensus had emerged that erratic and erroneous values of the engine pressure ratio (EPR) appeared for both engines two to three minutes after levelling off at an altitude of . The EPR is the main parameter for engine power management, and is derived from pressure sensors at the engine inlets. The sensors had probably become clogged with ice in this case. Such icing is normally prevented by a hot-air system, which probably was not activated by the aircrew during climb and cruise, according to BEA "analysis of the available data". The faulty EPR values caused the engine controllers to limit the thrust to much less than required to maintain sufficient airspeed for stability at the altitude that the
autopilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of a vehicle without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator's control of the vehicle, allow ...
tried to maintain by increasing the
angle of attack In fluid dynamics, angle of attack (AOA, α, or \alpha) is the angle between a Airfoil#Airfoil terminology, reference line on a body (often the chord (aircraft), chord line of an airfoil) and the vector (geometry), vector representing the relat ...
until stall occurred. Twenty seconds after the initial stall, the plane suddenly rolled sharply left to almost full inversion as the autopilot disengaged, and pitched nose down to near vertical. The BEA notes that "the recorded parameters indicate that there were no stall recovery manoeuvres by the crew", while the flight control surface deflections remained those that would normally intend nose-up and right-roll. The BEA noted two previous similar incidents involving MD-82 and MD-83 aircraft, where the aircrews were alert enough to notice the loss of airspeed and intervene before loss of control. The first one was
Spirit Airlines Spirit Airlines, Inc. is an American ultra-low cost airline headquartered in Dania Beach, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Spirit was the ...
Flight 970. The aircraft involved, registered as N823NK, was an MD-82 flying in mid day in June 2002 when it suffered a loss of thrust on both engines, in cruise at an altitude of . The two pressure sensors, located on the engine nose bullets, were blocked by ice crystals, leading to incorrect indications and over-estimation of the EPR. The crew noticed the drop in speed and the precursor indications of a stall just before disengagement of the autopilot and putting the aeroplane into a descent. They had not activated the engine anti-ice systems. The second one involved was an MD-83 operated by Swiftair that occurred in June 2014. The crew was aware of the drop of their airspeed and successfully recovered.


Logbook analysis

French BEA revealed that there were several technical defects on the plane, several of which were on the EPR system. On 21 July 2013, BEA noted that there was intermittent failures on the autothrottle that led to the replacement of the EPR transmitter on No.2 engine. On 19 October 2013, the No.1 engine EPR indicator was faulty (no display of values) and the display was replaced. On 2 March 2014, the autothrottle actuator was replaced. During the recommissioning process, the "EPR LH" failure message was displayed. The left-hand EPR transmitter was therefore also replaced. Additionally, on 27 June 2014, an engine surge resulted in a rejected take off, at about . Due to this, No.1 engine was replaced.


Sequence of events based on FDR analysis

The following was the sequence of events based on the FDR analysis: The crew had been prepared to fly to
Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...
from
Ouagadougou Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...
. Because the crew was flying to Algiers they should have known the weather condition in the area. The crew had arrived in Ouagadougou one hour earlier, and knew about the weather in the region. Therefore, they already knew the risks of
turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disruption between ...
and icing while flying in the region. After handling the ground clearance, AH5017 finally took off from Ouagadougou at 01:15 local time (same time as UTC). There were no incidents in its initial climb. 13 minutes after takeoff, while climbing through flight level 215 (, AH5017 slightly deviated to the left to avoid a storm in the area, which they reported to Ouagadougou ACC. However, even though they knew that a storm had occurred in the area, the flight crews did not activate the engine anti-icing system. At the time, the temperature in the area indicated a high risk of icing. According to the procedures, the engine anti-ice system should have been activated. Even though ice crystals were likely to form due to the temperature and weather in the area, the airframe and windshield did not seem to be affected by icing. The probable absence of icing on the airframe (in particular on the windshield wipers), the possible lack of clear signs of ice crystals (which may be difficult to visually detect, especially at night, and are usually not detectable on the weather radar), plus the absence of significant turbulence, may have caused the crew to think that activating the engine anti-icing system was not necessary. The plane levelled off at 01:37 local time and the flight crew then engaged the autopilot and the autothrottle. Two minutes later the speed of the plane increased. The crew then selected the cruise thrust regime on the TRP (Thrust Rating Panel). Shortly after, the EPR (engine pressure ratio) values of the right engine became erroneous, probably due to ice crystals obstructing its pressure sensor. The autothrottle then adjusted the thrust to prevent the erroneous values from exceeding the EPR limit in cruise setting. The thrust delivered by the engines was then lower than the thrust required for level flight, and the speed of the plane continued to decrease. For about one minute, the gap between the EPR values of the left and right engines gradually increased and then stabilized between 0.2 and 0.3, and the autothrottle switched to MACH ATL mode three times. 55 seconds after the anomaly in the right engine, the left engine's EPR values also became erroneous and started to increase. Due to these incorrect readings, the crew realized that an anomaly had occurred on AH5017. Five seconds later, and continuing for four seconds, this increase was interrupted by a decrease in both engines' RPM. This decrease could have resulted from the crew reducing the Mach target, or from manual decrease in engine RPM by over-riding the autothrottle. However, even though there were many anomalies in the engines, the speed of the plane was still at or near normal speed cruising, so the crew still did not activate the engine anti-icing system. They did not realize that the blockage in the pressure sensors was causing the engines to deliver insufficient thrust. The engine RPM then increased again until the erroneous left EPR values reached EPR limit. The thrust delivered by the engines remained lower than the thrust required in this phase of flight and the plane continued to decelerate. The gap between the right EPR and the left EPR became closer to the typical EPR values while in cruise. The N1 values were slightly lower than the typical cruise values (77% instead of 80 – 85%). The inconsistency between the EPR values and N1 values was therefore hardly noticeable to the crew, more so since their documentation did not have a table of correct actions between EPR and N1 and they had not been trained to observe the correct action between these two parameters. Additionally, the flight crew was busy trying to avoid a nearby storm system and trying to contact Niamey. AH5017's speed then decreased further until , nearly to its stall speed. The Mach indicator needle was close to vertical, and such a reading should have been noticed by the flight crew, who then should have put the plane into a descent. However, they only made an input on the thrust lever. This was the correct action when there was a problem with the EPR system, but this action alone was not the reaction expected of a crew in an approach to stall. They should have put the aircraft into a descent. They did notice that there was a problem in AH5017's EPR. The autothrottle then disengaged, at the speed of . The "SPEED LOW" warning then appeared on the cockpit screen but the flight crew were slow to react because they were handling contact with Niamey ACC. At this point, the autopilot was still engaged. When the speed reached , the stick shaker triggered, followed three seconds later by the stall warning. From this time onwards, Captain Comerón’s side loudspeaker only broadcast the "STALL" warning, while that on First Officer Gost’s side alternated the "STALL" warning with the other warnings that were active. When a stall happens, the crew should disconnect the autopilot and execute the stall recovery procedure. Neither actions were taken by the crew, indicating that they did not know that a stall had happened in-flight. In order to maintain altitude, the autopilot then commanded a continuous nose-up movement of the trimmable horizontal stabilizer and the elevators. This resulted in an increase in the angle of attack of up to 24°, or 13° above the stall angle of attack in the event conditions, as well as the broadcast of several "STABILIZER MOTION" warnings. Both engines suffered a surge probably due to the plane's high angle of attack and their RPMs decreased to values close to idle. This surge may have been noticed by the crew. There was no sign of a reaction by the crew other than the throttle movements, until the disconnection of the autopilot which occurred 25 seconds after the triggering of the stick shaker. The speed was then , and the altitude had decreased by about . The plane was banking to the left and its pitch was decreasing. The crew applied input mainly to roll to the right to bring the wings level. At the same time they applied mainly nose up inputs, contrary to the inputs required to recover from a stall, and continued to do so until impact with the ground.


Conclusion

On 22 April 2016, the BEA finally concluded the cause of the crash as follows: "The aeroplane speed, piloted by the autothrottle, decreased due to the obstruction of the pressure sensors located on the engine nose cones, probably caused by ice crystals. The autopilot then gradually increased the angle of attack to maintain altitude until the aeroplane stalled. The stall was not recovered. The aeroplane retained a pitch-down attitude and left bank angle down to the ground, while the control surfaces remained mainly deflected pitch up and in the direction of a bank to the right. The aeroplane hit the ground at high speed." Contributing factors: * the non-activation of the engine anti-icing systems * the obstruction of the Pt2 pressure sensors, probably by ice crystals, generating erroneous EPR values that caused the autothrottle to limit the thrust produced by the engines to a level below that required to maintain the aeroplane at FL310. * the crew's late reaction to the decrease in speed and to the erroneous EPR values, possibly linked to the work load associated with avoiding the convective zone and communication difficulties with air traffic control. * the crew's lack of reaction to the appearance of buffet, the stickshaker and the stall warning. * the lack of appropriate inputs on the flight controls to recover from a stall situation. * The FCOM procedure relating to the activation of the anti-icing systems that was not adapted to Pt2 pressure sensor obstruction by ice crystals * Insufficient information for operators on the consequences of a blockage of the Pt2 pressure sensor by icing * The stickshaker and the stall warning triggering logic that led these devices to be triggered belatedly in relation to the aeroplane stall in cruise; * the autopilot logic that enables it to continue to give pitch-up commands beyond the stall angle, thereby aggravating the stall situation and increasing the crew's difficulties in recovery. The BEA issued more than 20 recommendations in response to the crash, several of them noted on past aviation accidents, including
West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 was a charter flight that crashed in northwest Venezuela in the early hours of 16 August 2005, killing all 160 passengers and crew on board. The plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, McDonnell Douglas MD-82, registra ...
,
Air France Flight 447 Air France Flight 447 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France. On 1 June 2009, inconsistent airspeed indications and mi ...
, and a serious incident onboard
Spirit Airlines Spirit Airlines, Inc. is an American ultra-low cost airline headquartered in Dania Beach, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Spirit was the ...
Flight 970. Some of the recommendations were based on Search and Rescue operations, CVR malfunctions, and an "urgent" recommendation to the FAA about icing on aircraft.


Legal actions

Prosecutors in Paris opened a preliminary "involuntary homicide" investigation. Relatives of Canadian victims filed a lawsuit, at the Montreal Courthouse, to Air Algérie in response to the crash. The lawsuit alleges that Swiftair pilots intentionally chose a flight path that passed through the eye of a tropical storm. It also alleges the pilots failed to perform necessary measures to try to fly the plane to safety, including activating the plane's de-icing mechanisms. Victims' relatives were claiming moral, psychological and traumatic damages, as well as financial loss and the "loss of a loved one". French newspaper ''
Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...
'' cited a judicial probe that the crash of Flight 5017 was caused due to a series of errors, caused by the failure of the de-icing equipment on the plane. Based on the probe, the failure led to sensors on the engines becoming clogged with ice and reporting back false data to the pilots. As such, when the engine began to lose thrust, the pilots were unaware of it. The situation would have been compounded when the pilot attempted to regain altitude by pulling back on the joystick, indicating pilot error. The flight simulator system used to train the crew was not exactly the same as the actual plane, the MD-83. The pilots did not have any experience at flying in Africa's meteorological conditions. In the latter, it stated that both pilots had only one African flight experience. The crew also had outdated information on the weather conditions on the route they were flying, having received their last update 2½ hours before takeoff, while the plane's crews had trouble communicating with ground staff. On May 18, 2021, the Paris Judicial Court ordered that Swiftair be trialed in France on charges of involuntary manslaughter and negligence. The investigating judges suspected that the company failed to provide "adequate training to the crew," which contributed to "the crew's failure to recognize the deterioration of engine parameters" and "their inadequate response to the onset of the stall." The trial was initially scheduled from October 2 to 26, 2023, pending a favorable decision on June 8, 2023. This was due to the fact that the Spanish justice system had previously issued a provisional dismissal in favor of the company, raising the potential applicability of the legal principle of ''ne bis in idem'', which prohibits being tried twice for the same offense. However, in June 2023, the trial was postponed indefinitely because the Paris Criminal Court submitted preliminary questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The families of the victims, frustrated by this new delay, continue to denounce the slow judicial process and still seek justice nearly ten years after the crash. The French association of families of the victims of Flight AH5017, AH5017 Ensemble, expressed its frustration regarding the postponement of the trial against Swiftair. They denounce the slowness of the judicial procedures and continue to demand justice for their deceased relatives. On Thursday, April 3, 2025, the CJEU issued a decision declaring inadmissible the preliminary questions submitted by the Paris Criminal Court in the proceedings against the Spanish airline Swiftair for involuntary manslaughter, following the crash of Air Algérie Flight AH5017 in 2014. These questions specifically concerned the applicability of the legal principle of ''ne bis in idem'', which states that a person cannot be prosecuted or punished twice for the same acts. Swiftair had indeed benefited from a provisional dismissal in Spain, raising the question of the possibility of a new trial in France. By declaring the request inadmissible, the CJEU did not rule on the substance of the invoked principle, thus leaving open the possibility of continuing the proceedings in France. The French investigating judges had concluded that there were "various failings on the part of the company," particularly "inadequate training" provided to the crew, which "did not allow them to respond appropriately and avoid the accident." This European decision, by not blocking the French proceedings, could allow for a trial against Swiftair before the Paris Criminal Court.


Tribute

The Mairie de Paris has paid tribute to the victims of the crash by naming an alley in the Parc de Bercy “allée des 116 victimes du vol AH5017 du 24 juillet 2014” in 2019. On July 24, 2018, on the fourth anniversary of the crash of Air Algérie flight 5017, a commemorative stele was inaugurated in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in tribute to the 116 victims of the tragedy. The ceremony took place in the presence of then President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, who unveiled the stele and planted a tree in memory of those lost. The aim of this initiative is to provide families with a place of remembrance, and to perpetuate the memory of those lost in the accident. In Burkina Faso, the Association des Familles des Victimes du Crash (AFAVIC) continues to commemorate the tragedy. In July 2023 and again in July 2024, on the tenth anniversary of the accident, AFAVIC expressed its sorrow and remembrance in a press release, although the planned commemorative activities were postponed. The association also appealed to customary and religious authorities for the eternal repose of the deceased.


See also

*'' Agence Nationale de l'Aviation Civile du Mali'' *
Atmospheric icing Atmospheric icing occurs in the atmosphere when water droplets suspended in air freeze on objects they come in contact with. It is not the same as freezing rain, which is caused directly by precipitation. Atmospheric icing occurs on aircraft, ...
*
Ice protection system Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally occu ...
*
List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft __NOTOC__ This list of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft includes notable events that have a corresponding Wikipedia article. Entries in this list involve passenger or cargo aircraft that are operating commercially and meet ...
*
List of aircraft accidents and incidents resulting in at least 50 fatalities This article lists the deadliest aircraft accidents and incidents involving commercial passenger and cargo flights, military passenger and cargo flights, or general aviation flights that have been involved in a Ground collision, ground or mid-a ...
;Similar incidents * 2000 Marsa Brega Shorts 360 crash *
Air Florida Flight 90 Air Florida Flight 90 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated from Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport) to Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport, with an intermediate stopover at T ...
*
Air Ontario Flight 1363 Air Ontario Flight 1363 was a scheduled Air Ontario passenger flight which crashed near Dryden, Ontario, Canada, on 10 March 1989 shortly after takeoff from Dryden Regional Airport. The aircraft was a Fokker F28-1000 Fellowship twin jet. It ...
*
American Eagle Flight 4184 American Eagle Flight 4184, officially operating as Simmons Airlines Flight 4184, was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Chicago, Illinois, United States. On , 1994, the performing this route flew into severe i ...
*
Comair Flight 3272 Comair Flight 3272 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Comair (United States), Comair from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Cincinnati International Airport in Kentucky to Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Mic ...
*
West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 was a charter flight that crashed in northwest Venezuela in the early hours of 16 August 2005, killing all 160 passengers and crew on board. The plane, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, McDonnell Douglas MD-82, registra ...
* USAir Flight 405 *
Air France Flight 447 Air France Flight 447 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France. On 1 June 2009, inconsistent airspeed indications and mi ...


Notes


References


External links

* Republic of Mali Commission of Inquiry
Final ReportArchive
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Interim Report Accident on 24 July 2014 in the region of Gossi in Mali to the MD-83 registered EC-LTV operated by Swiftair S.A.

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Description of engine thrust control

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Information on the accident that occurred in the region of Gossi (Mali) on 24 July 2014 to the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83 (MD 83), registered EC-LTV, operated by Swiftair SA as flight AH 5017

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Safety recommendations issued to the FAA and the EASA on 10 July, 2015 by the President of the Mali Commission of Inquiry and the BEA

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Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety The Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (, BEA) is an agency of the French government, responsible for investigating aviation accidents and incidents and making safety recommendations based on what is learned from those inve ...
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Accident to the McDonnell Douglas MD-83, registered EC-LTV, on 24 July 2014 in the region of Gao (Mali)
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Accident survenu dans la région de Gossi (Mali) le 24 juillet 2014 à l'avion McDonnell Douglas DC-9-83 (MD-83), immatriculé EC-LTV, exploité par Swiftair SA, vol AH 5017
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Información Incidente Aéreo / Aviation Incident InformationArchive
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Air Algérie Air Algérie SpA (, ) is the flag carrier of Algeria, with its head office in the El-Djazair office block in Algiers. With flights operating mostly from Houari Boumedienne Airport in Algiers and Ahmed Ben Bella Airport in Oran, Air Algérie op ...
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