Inquiry blames crew failures for 2014 plane crash in Mali

Remi Jouty, the head of France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis for the Security of Civil Aviation (BEA) delivers his speech on 2014 Air Algerie crash over Mali, blaming a mixture of mistakes for the disaster which killed 116 people, during a press conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, Friday, April 22, 2016. Jouty says that the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 went down on July 24, 2014 near the rural town of Gossi after problems with its sensors probably caused by obstruction by ice crystals. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) (The Associated Press)

Remi Jouty, the head of France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis for the Security of Civil Aviation (BEA) left, flanked with Mali's counterpart N'Faly Cisse delivers his speech on 2014 Air Algerie crash over Mali, blaming a mixture of mistakes for the disaster which killed 116 people, during a press conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, Friday, April 22, 2016. Jouty says that the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 went down on July 24, 2014 near the rural town of Gossi after problems with its sensors probably caused by obstruction by ice crystals. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) (The Associated Press)

Remi Jouty, the head of France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis for the Security of Civil Aviation (BEA) left, flanked with Mali's counterpart N'Faly Cisse delivers his speech on 2014 Air Algerie crash over Mali, blaming a mixture of mistakes for the disaster which killed 116 people, during a press conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, Friday, April 22, 2016. Jouty says that the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 went down on July 24, 2014 near the rural town of Gossi after problems with its sensors probably caused by obstruction by ice crystals. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) (The Associated Press)

Air accident investigators say crew errors caused the 2014 Air Algerie crash over Mali, blaming a mixture of mistakes for the disaster which killed 116 people.

France's Analysis and Investigations Bureau says that the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 went down in July 2014 near the rural town of Gossi after problems with its sensors that were probably caused by obstruction by ice crystals.

The bureau's report says the plane's crew didn't activate the aircraft's anti-icing mechanism even though they were flying in an area where the presence of ice crystals was likely and reacted late when the plane started to slow and then stall.

Friday's report says the crew never recovered from the stall, sending the aircraft plummeting.

The report's recommendations included studying a permanent anti-icing system for the plane's sensors.