Another missing plane? Air Asia Flight With 162 On Board Missing

An AirAsia flight from Surabaya,
Indonesia to Singapore has lost contact
with air traffic control after take-off, the
airline has said.
Flight QZ8501, which had 162 people on board,
was supposed to land in Singapore at 8:30am
local time on Sunday.
Sixteen children and one infant were on board,
the airline said in a statement. It added that
there was one Singaporean national, one
Malaysian, three Koreans, and 157 Indonesians
on the flight.
“At the present time we unfortunately have no
further information regarding the status of the
passengers and crew members on board, but
we will keep all parties informed as more
information becomes available,” the airline said
in a statement on Facebook.
The aircraft, an Airbus A320-200 with the
registration number PK-AXC, requested for a
different route due to poor weather before
communication was lost over Indonesian air
space.
Search and rescue operations are in progress
and AirAsia is “cooperating fully and assisting
the rescue service”, the Malaysia-based budget
carrier said.
It said it had established an emergency call
centre for family or friends of those who were
travelling on the aircraft.
The aircraft lost contact with the Jakarta air
traffic control tower at 6:17am (2317 GMT), Hadi
Mustofa, Indonesia’s Transport Ministry official,
told media.
The flight had been due in Singapore at 8:30 am
(0030 GMT). The Singapore airport said on its
website the status of the flight was “delayed”.
The incident comes at the end of a disastrous
year for Malaysia’s airlines.
National flag carrier Malaysia Airlines lost two
aircraft this year.
Its flight MH370 went missing on March 8 on a
trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239
passengers and crew on board.
On July 17, Flight MH17 was shot down over
Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.