(NBC NEWS) A commercial jetliner carrying 116 people disappeared over west Africa after adjusting its route due to a storm early Thursday, an official said, raising fears of a third major aviation disaster in a week.
Air Algerie Flight AH5017 vanished about 50 minutes after it left Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso on its way to Algiers, Algeria.
The jet took off at 1:17 a.m. local time (9:17 p.m. ET on Wednesday). Burkina Faso's Transport Minister Jean Bertin Ouedraogo told reporters its pilots had asked to change route at 21 minutes after takeoff after reporting heavy rains.