The wreckage of an Air Algerie flight that crashed early Thursday has been found in the northern Mali desert , officials in Burkina Faso , where the plane took off , said on state-owned RTB television . No survivors were found , according to Burkina Faso Gen. Gilbert Diendere . Flight 5017 was carrying at least 116 people when it departed for Algeria . It disappeared from radar after diverting from its planned course due to bad weather , French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters . At least 50 of the passengers aboard the MD-83 were French . Mali will lead the investigation into the crash . French forces , including two fighter jets , helped search for the aircraft , along with Algerian and U.N. personnel in the region , Fabius said . Radar contact with the crew was lost 50 minutes after takeoff from Ouagadougou , Burkina Faso , at 1:47 a.m. Thursday , Fabius said . The aircraft was supposed to arrive at Algiers ' Houari Boumediene Airport . Mali lies between Burkina Faso and Algeria . The plane was carrying 110 passengers and six crew members , Air Algerie sales manager Zoheir Houaoui told reporters . Among the passengers , he said , were 50 people from France ; 24 from Burkina Faso ; eight Lebanese ; six Algerians ; five Canadians ; four Germans ; two from Luxembourg ; one from Mali ; one Cameroonian ; one Belgian ; one Ukrainian ; one Romanian ; one Swiss ; one Nigerian ; and one Egyptian . The plane 's six crew members were Spanish , Houaoui said . The plane belongs to a private Spanish company , Swiftair , but it appears to have been operated by Air Algerie . A U.S. State Department official said the department was not aware of any Americans on the flight . Ouagadougou Airport said in a statement that Mariela Castro , daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro , was among those on board . However , the National Center for Sexual Education in Havana , Cuba , which Mariela Castro runs , denied the reports and told CNN she was at an event in Havana . Castro subsequently told a Telesur anchor who interviewed her by phone , `` I 'm alive , kicking , happy and healthy ! '' Weather may have played a role in crash . According to CNN meteorologist Mari Ramos , the flight path took the aircraft through a region of thunderstorms . The flight path went through a turbulent area , so it is likely that if the plane was diverted because of weather , it was to avoid a bumpy flight . Thunderstorms are a very common occurrence at this time of year in the area . The MD-83 is part of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 family of twin-engine , single-aisle jets . Air Algerie is Algeria 's national airline , with flights to 28 countries . The deadliest incident in the airline 's history occurred in March 2003 when a domestic flight crashed after takeoff , killing 102 people on board . One person survived . In February , a Hercules C-130 military aircraft crashed in the mountains of eastern Algeria , killing 77 of the 78 people on board . Flight 5017 's disappearance comes exactly a week after a Malaysia Airlines plane was brought down in Ukraine with 298 people on board . What you need to know about commercial airplane crashes .
A search team finds wreckage of Air Algerie in northern Mali desert . Burkina Faso official says no one survived the crash . The plane was carrying 66 passengers and six crew members when it crashed into a mountain near Gao, Mali, on Saturday morning. Cuban President 's daughter was not on board flight , despite airport 's claim .