The Super Puma helicopter, carrying a captain, a lieutenant and sergeant, went down after taking off from Mauritania. Authorities said the chopper had been involved in military exercises in Dakar, Senegal and stopped at Mauritania for refueling.

All 3 crew members went missing after the crash. A search operation is underway.

The cause of crash is being investigated.

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The hundred and ten passengers and six Spanish crew members were aboard. Algiers is a transit point for Lebanese flying home to Beirut. Twenty Lebonese were aboard, including Fadi Rustom and Joseph Hajj from Aintoura, and Omar Ballan from Ghazir. About fifty French may be aboard also.

The most recent report is that the plane crashed in Niger, according to Elnahar TV.

Mali is unstable, but an airline spokesperson said unofficially “the fighters have shoulder-fired weapons which could not hit an aircraft at cruising altitude.”

METAR Weather report:
01:00 UTC / 01:00 local time:
DFFD 240100Z 23008KT 9999 FEW020 BKN100 26/23 Q1015 NOSIG
02:00 UTC / 02:00 local time:
DFFD 240200Z 22006KT 9999 TS FEW020 FEW033CB BKN100 25/23 Q1014 TEMPO 4000 TSRA

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