Flight AH 5017 on 24 July 2014 - McDonnell Douglas MD-83 – registered EC-LTV

INFORMATION ON 28 JULY 2014
Published with the agreement of the President of the Commission of Inquiry into civil aviation accidents and incidents of the Republic of Mali

Following the accident that occurred to the McDonnell Douglas MD 83 in the region of Gossi (Mali) on 24 July 2014, Malian civil aviation authorities initiated a Safety Investigation and requested technical assistance from the BEA. Two investigators from the BEA travelled to the accident site on 25 July.

The two flight recorders, the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), which were recovered on 25 July, were transported by Malian civil aviation authorities, accompanied by the French Gendarmerie, and handed over officially this morning to the Director of the BEA. Work on opening them began immediately.

BEA investigators were quickly able to read out the data from the FDR. Work on decoding and analysing the data in detail will now start, with members of the Malian Commission of Inquiry.

The CVR was damaged in the impact. Work is continuing on this recorder in order to extract data from it.

The BEA reminds you that only the President of the Commission of Inquiry of the Republic of Mali is authorised to communicate on the results of the ongoing work and the next stages of the investigation.

The aeroplane, which was flying the Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) to Algiers (Algeria) route, had 112 passengers on board, including 54 French citizens, as well as six crew members.

The BEA is the French Civil Aviation Safety Investigation Authority. Its investigations are conducted with the sole objective of improving aviation safety and are not intended to apportion blame or liability. BEA investigations are independent, separate and conducted without prejudice to any judicial or administrative action that may be taken to determine blame or liability.