It took off around 7:20 am (0520 GMT). Shortly afterwards it was seen plunging nose-first towards the ground and exploding into a ball of flames. Remains of all five victims had been recovered and an investigation had begun, it added. Story continues below…"The flight was part of a French customs surveillance operation which has been taking place for the past five months, with the aim of tracing routes of illicit trafficking of all sorts, including human and drug trafficking amongst others," the government said. "The flight was registered with the Malta Air Traffic Services as a local flight and was to return to Malta within hours without landing in third countries."

Source: The Local October 24, 2016 10:41 UTC