Military plane crash in North of Algeria, 77 people dead

On Tuesday, a military plane of the model Hercules crashed in the North of Algeria, killing 77 people. Among the fatalities were military personnel and relatives. 

The aircraft crashed in the Northeast of the country, in a mountainous region near the province of Oum el Bouaghi, about 380 kilometres east of the capital Algiers. Initially it was assumed that all passengers on board the machine were killed. The machine, however, had had a stopover where 20 people went offboard, leading to a total death toll of 77. Only one passenger of the fatal flight survived the crash.

Although the exact cause of the crash is still under investigation, it is assumed that adverse weather conditions may have been the cause of the disaster. It is assumed that strong winds and heavy snowfall impacted the plane's manoeuvrability. In addition, the visibility was likely affected, which meant the pilot could not navigate properly and crashed into a mountain as a result.

Aviation Safety

Although this is a terrible tragedy, to this day, flying is still one of the safest ways of transport. Just recently, the International Air Transport Association announced that 2013 has been one of the safest years in the aviation industry, with more than 100,000 successful flights each day.

Written by: Team Flight-Delayed.co.uk