Engine trouble likely cause of air crash that killed 102

THE crash of an Air Algerie passenger jet that killed 102 people in the Sahara Desert was probably caused

The Boeing 737 crashed at the end of the runway in Tamanrasset, 990 miles south of the capital, Algiers, sliding into the airport’s perimeter fence and bursting into flames.

Experts from Chicago-based Boeing Co. were on their way to Algeria to help in the investigation, the government-run APS news agency said.

“The plane was picking up speed when one of the engines caught fire,” Interior Minister Nourredine Zerhouni said yesterday.

Ninety-seven passengers, including six French citizens, and six crew members were killed, the Transport Ministry said. One passenger, a young soldier, survived.

The crash was state-run Air Algerie’s first since its founding in 1953, and the lack of experience in coping with airline accidents hampered rescue efforts.

All that was left of the aircraft was a burned-out wreck, with blackened pieces scattered across the sands.

Tearful relatives gathered at Algiers’ Prime Minister Ali Benflis set up a crisis unit at the airport