An Algerian military transport aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Boufarik air base on Thursday, killing two officers and injuring four crew members, one of them critically, the Defence Ministry said.
The BE 1900 aircraft went down moments after taking off from the runway while on a mission carrying a six member crew.
Algeria records one of the highest numbers of military air crashes in the world, with more than fifteen officially acknowledged accidents in ten years, resulting in around 400 deaths.
The incidents span frontline fighter jets, troop transport aircraft, reconnaissance planes, naval helicopters and unmanned aerial systems.
In March 2025, a Sukhoi Su 30 crashed during a training exercise in the desert region of Aoulef in Adrar, killing a lieutenant colonel. A few months later, in August, a Czech built Zlin reconnaissance aircraft crashed in Jijel, killing its four occupants, including two Civil Protection officers engaged in a training and certification mission.
In February 2024, a Russian made MI 171 helicopter went down, killing three officers, a colonel, a lieutenant colonel and a sergeant. Drone losses have also mounted, including two Chinese built systems.
The most devastating disasters occurred earlier. In February 2014, the crash of a C 130 Hercules military transport killed 77 people. In April 2018, an Ilyushin Il 76 crashed shortly after takeoff from Boufarik, killing all 257 people on board, marking the deadliest air disaster in Algeria’s history.
Independent analyses in recent years have attributed Algeria’s unusually high rate of military aviation crashes to a combination of aging equipment, maintenance difficulties and institutional shortcomings.
The country has lost dozens of Russian-built aircraft due to an aging fleet and inadequate maintenance practices, problems compounded by the war in Ukraine, which has disrupted the supply of spare parts and delayed the arrival of Russian technicians.
