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AirAsia Indonesia flight to Singapore goes missing over Java Sea AirAsia Indonesia flight to Singapore goes missing over Java Sea with 162 on board
(35 minutes later)
A Singapore-bound AirAsia Indonesia jet carrying at least 160 passengers and crew members lost contact with air-traffic control on Sunday, prompting Indonesian authorities to launch search and rescue operations. A Singapore-bound AirAsia Indonesia jet carrying 162 passengers and crew members lost contact with air-traffic control on Sunday morning, prompting Indonesian authorities to launch search and rescue operations.
The Singapore Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement that the plane — an Airbus A320-200 — “lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control” at 7:24 a.m. local time (7:24 p.m. Saturday in Washington), about an hour before its scheduled landing. The Associated Press reported that “the contact was lost about 42 minutes after takeoff from Indonesia’s Surabaya airport, Hadi Mustofa, an official of the transportation ministry told Indonesia’s MetroTV.” The Singapore Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement that the plane — an Airbus A320-200 — “lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control” at 7:24 a.m. local time (7:24 p.m. Saturday in Washington), about an hour before its scheduled landing at Changi Airport. Contact was lost about 42 minutes after takeoff from Surabaya Airport, an Indonesian Ministry of Transportation official told Indonesia’s MetroTV, according to the Associated Press.
Mustofa said the plane was believed to be over the Java Sea when it lost contact and that weather in the area was cloudy. The official, Hadi Mustofa, said the plane was believed to be over the Java Sea when it lost contact.
The Australian reported that “officials said the plane had requested an unusual route” before its pilots lost contact with air-traffic control. In a statement, AirAsia said that “the aircraft was on the submitted flight plan route and was requesting deviation due to enroute weather before communication with the aircraft was lost while it was still under the control of the Indonesian Air Traffic Control (ATC).”
Spokesman for Minister for Transport said last communication from pilot was asking permission to change height to due to bad weather. — smh.com.au (@smh) December 28, 2014
Spokesman for Minister for Transport said last communication from pilot was asking permission to change height to due to bad weather.
— smh.com.au (@smh) December 28, 2014
Update: #QZ8501 missing en route to Singapore. Satellite images show some stormy weather along route. pic.twitter.com/YoTFWbh8GL — WeatherBug (@WeatherBug) December 28, 2014Update: #QZ8501 missing en route to Singapore. Satellite images show some stormy weather along route. pic.twitter.com/YoTFWbh8GL — WeatherBug (@WeatherBug) December 28, 2014
Update: #QZ8501 missing en route to Singapore. Satellite images show some stormy weather along route. pic.twitter.com/YoTFWbh8GLUpdate: #QZ8501 missing en route to Singapore. Satellite images show some stormy weather along route. pic.twitter.com/YoTFWbh8GL
— WeatherBug (@WeatherBug) December 28, 2014— WeatherBug (@WeatherBug) December 28, 2014
There was bad weather where #QZ8501 was flying. But 100s of airliners fly through bad weather daily. Not necessarily related. — Airline Reporter (@AirlineReporter) December 28, 2014There was bad weather where #QZ8501 was flying. But 100s of airliners fly through bad weather daily. Not necessarily related. — Airline Reporter (@AirlineReporter) December 28, 2014
There was bad weather where #QZ8501 was flying. But 100s of airliners fly through bad weather daily. Not necessarily related.There was bad weather where #QZ8501 was flying. But 100s of airliners fly through bad weather daily. Not necessarily related.
— Airline Reporter (@AirlineReporter) December 28, 2014— Airline Reporter (@AirlineReporter) December 28, 2014
“AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24hrs this morning,” the airline said in a statement. “At the present time we unfortunately have no further information regarding the status of the passengers and crew members on board.” The flight took off Sunday morning from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, with 155 passengers, two pilots, one engineer and four flight attendants on board, according to AirAsia. There were 16 children and one infant among the passengers, the airline said. All but five passengers were Indonesian; three were South Korean, and there was one passenger from Singapore on the plane and another from Malaysia.
The plane took off Sunday morning from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, with 155 passengers on board, according to reports. The general manager of Juanda airport, Trikora Raharjo, told the AP that there were 16 children and one infant on the plane. All but six passengers were Indonesians, according to Raharjo, who said there were also three South Koreans and one passenger each from Singapore, British and Malaysia on the plane. In its statement, AirAsia said the captain in command of the flight “had a total of 6,100 flying hours and the first officer a total of 2,275 flying hours.” The airline added that the Airbus A320-200 underwent “its last scheduled maintenance” on Nov. 16.
We have been informed of an event and all efforts are now going towards assessing the situation. — Airbus (@Airbus) December 28, 2014We have been informed of an event and all efforts are now going towards assessing the situation. — Airbus (@Airbus) December 28, 2014
We have been informed of an event and all efforts are now going towards assessing the situation.We have been informed of an event and all efforts are now going towards assessing the situation.
— Airbus (@Airbus) December 28, 2014— Airbus (@Airbus) December 28, 2014
According to the AP:According to the AP:
Budget carrier AirAsia, which has dominated cheap travel in the region for years, has never lost a plane before.Budget carrier AirAsia, which has dominated cheap travel in the region for years, has never lost a plane before.
Budget carrier AirAsia, which has dominated cheap travel in the region for years, has never lost a plane before.Budget carrier AirAsia, which has dominated cheap travel in the region for years, has never lost a plane before.
Flightradar24 did not pick up any emergency signals from #QZ8501 The signal was just lost at 23:12 UTC pic.twitter.com/fF36RxqiYR — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 28, 2014Flightradar24 did not pick up any emergency signals from #QZ8501 The signal was just lost at 23:12 UTC pic.twitter.com/fF36RxqiYR — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 28, 2014
Flightradar24 did not pick up any emergency signals from #QZ8501 The signal was just lost at 23:12 UTC pic.twitter.com/fF36RxqiYRFlightradar24 did not pick up any emergency signals from #QZ8501 The signal was just lost at 23:12 UTC pic.twitter.com/fF36RxqiYR
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 28, 2014— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 28, 2014
#QZ8501 may have flown out of Flightradar24 coverage at 23:12 UTC as we are missing coverage on lower altitudes in this area. — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 28, 2014#QZ8501 may have flown out of Flightradar24 coverage at 23:12 UTC as we are missing coverage on lower altitudes in this area. — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 28, 2014
#QZ8501 may have flown out of Flightradar24 coverage at 23:12 UTC as we are missing coverage on lower altitudes in this area.#QZ8501 may have flown out of Flightradar24 coverage at 23:12 UTC as we are missing coverage on lower altitudes in this area.
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 28, 2014— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 28, 2014
[This post has been updated.] This has been an especially difficult year for Southeast Asian commercial airlines. Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared in early March and is still missing nearly 10 months later — and Malaysia Airline Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine in July.
Herman Wong contributed to this post, which has been updated multiple times.