Flags at half-mast for three days in France to honour victims of Air Algérie flight AH 5017
As a mark of the strong links between France and its former dominion states of Algeria and Mali, national flags in France will be flown at half-mast today for a period of three days in total. No survivors of the 118 people on board were found.
Wreckage of the doome plane was found in the Gao region of northern Mali, including the black box flight recorder. The Minister of Communication in Mali Mahamadou Camara announced yesterday the latter would be sent to France for analysis, where it is due to arrive today.
A second black box flight recorder was also found at the crash site. “They are capable of resisting unimaginable situations. Even if they were damaged or partially usable, we can still make them talk.” So says Martine del Bono, spokesperson for the French aviation authority BEA, who adds that the process of extracting information from the flight recorders and from the crash site will take several weeks.