The aircraft departed the southern Algerian city of Tamanrasset for a scheduled passenger flight to Algiers via Ghardaia at 3:45pm local time (1445 GMT) 6th March 2003. Witnesses reported seeing one of the 737's engines in flames during the takeoff roll, and the aircraft veered of the runway and crashed some 600 feet from the centerline. Early reports suggest 102:103 people lost their lives. |