Air Algerie loses contact with its plane leaving Ouagadougou

[Shadoko]

"It may also be read as: 'the crew requested a course change, then turned back'."

No, the sentence is : "l'équipage de l'avion avait demandé à se dérouter, puis à rebrousser chemin avant que le contact soit perdu" (Salle de presse - France-Diplomatie-Ministère des Affaires étrangères) :
the French sentence for "then turned back" would have been "puis a rebroussé chemin"...

Except if the transcript is grammatically erroneus, it translates in : the crew had asked to a course change, then [had asked] to turn back before contact was lost.