Flight from Indonesia to Singapore goes missing
(chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2014-12-28 11:49Key points:
- An AirAsia flight QZ8501 from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore lost contact with air traffic control on Sunday at around 6:17 am local time.
- Plane is carrying 162 people - 155 Indonesian, three South Koreans, one French, one Malaysian, one Briton and one Singaporean.
- AirAsia has established an emergency call center. The number is +622129850801.
- Plane requested to deviation due to bad weather before contact was lost.
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Map showing the approximate flight path of AirAsia flight QZ8501 when it went missing on Sunday during a flight from Surabaya to Singapore. [Data/Reuters] |
10:10am
Briton Choi Chi Man and his two-year-old daughter feared missing on the Air Asia plane was only on board because there was no room on an earlier flight, friends said. His wife and son flew on earlier flight.
Mr Choi, who is originally from Hull, Yorkshire, lives in Singapore but works in Indonesia where he is a unit managing director for electronic manufacturing firm Alstom Power.
An engineering graduate of Essex University, his parents still live in Hull, after emigrating from Hong Kong, and he is understood to have a brother and sister in the UK. - the Daily Telegraph
9:50am
Huge possibility of accident, says Indonesia's Vice-President Jusuf Kalla: The Straits Times
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Indonesia's vice-president Jusuf Kalla (L) monitors progress in the search for AirAsia Flight QZ8501 during a visit to the National Search and Rescue Agency in Jakarta December 28, 2014 in this picture supplied by Antara Foto.[Photo/Agencies] |
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak also spoke of the possibility of the plane having crashed.
He said at a flood relief centre that the plane disappearing from radar screens soon after departure "means the possibility of something untoward happening to the aircraft", reported The Star.
9:15am
Indonesia searched the Java Sea on Monday for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that went missing after its pilot failed to gain permission to altercourse to avoid a storm cell during a flight from the Indonesiancity of Surabaya to Singapore.
Air Force spokesman Hadi Thahjanto said two C-130 Hercules planes were focusing their search efforts in areas northeast of Indonesia's Bangka island, which lies roughly halfway between Surabaya and Singapore, in the Java Sea.
Singapore said it had sent two naval vessels to help look for the Airbus A320-200 operated by Indonesia AirAsia,adding a C-130 took part in the search on Sunday.
Malaysia would send three naval vessels and a C-130 toassist, Singapore's Channel News Asia television reported. An Australian P3 Orion surveillance plane left Darwin to join thesearch, Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio said. The United States, Britain, South Korea and India also offered help. - the Reuters
9:10am
AirAsia shares fell at the start of trade on Monday, after Indonesia resumed its search for the missing jetliner QZ8501 at first light on Monday.
The Malaysia-based budget airline fell as much as 12.9 percent to 2.56 ringgit at 0102 GMT, its lowest point since Nov. 28. The stock has gained 21.4 percent since the beginning of the year.
8:50am
Australian air force pilots have joined the search for this missing AirAsia plane. An RAAF P3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft left from Darwin early on Monday morning to join the search, Defence said in a statement.
Defence Force boss Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin said the Orion had well-proven search and rescue capabilities.
It has a maritime search radar along with infra-red and electro-optical sensors to help the crew with their visual scans of the ocean. - the Guardian
Backgrounder: Major air accidents in recent years
8:05am
Indonesia's ambassador to Australia, Najib Riphat Kesoema, has just told the ABC that Sunday's search involved eight boats, two aircraft and three helicopters, and will be bolstered this morning by the assistance of Singapore and other countries.
Kesoema said the weather on Monday morning was still "not very good" but had improved from yesterday.
He said he had contacted the recovery effort to convey Australia's offer to send an P-3 Orion surveillance plane to assist in the search. – the Guardian.
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Co-pilot Remi Emmanuel Plesel (left) and Captain Iriyanto on the missing flight. [Photo/BBC] |
7:55am
A 10-member extended family missed boarding 8501 by only minutes. But it was 9am local time before an airport official approached Christianawati and her big family and said the words she will never forget.
"This must have been the best Christmas gift your family ever received," she recalls him saying. "The flight you were supposed to be on has crashed."
The effect of this revelation on Christianawati and her family was immediate.
"We felt completely limp, the whole family," Christianawati told Fairfax Media, "It was like we'd lost our spirit." – Sydney Morning Herald.
7:40am
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Two members of the Indonesian Navy's Tactical Commanding Operator (TACCO) help with the search for AirAsia flight QZ 8501 on board a CN235 aircraft over Karimun Java, in the Java Sea December 28, 2014 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. [Photo/Agencies] |
Search has resumed for AirAsia Indonesia flight 8501, which went missing with 162 people on board on Sunday, an Indonesian official says. - BBC
6:35 am
Indonesia set to resume for search for missing AirAsia plane.
5:13 am
The search plan from CNN news
Seven ships and two helicopters will start searching for the plane as soon as day breaks, according to Indonesia's National Rescue Agency. The plan is to divide the search area into four broad sections of 120 by 240 nautical miles, the agency said. They may also search on land, saying that it is a "very broad search location."
Malaysia will send three vessels and Singapore will add at least one more search plane, according to rescue officials. Australia and India also offered assistance.
Cloudy weather and waves up to 9 feet hampered the search on Sunday, rescue officials said.
2:10 am
Indonesian search and rescue teams are to resume operations at 6am local time on Monday, or earlier, depending on the weather. The search for AirAsia flight QZ8501 was suspended due to darkness. The US, Australia and India are among the countries to have offered help in the search.- the guardian
0:20 am, Dec 29 Beijing Time
The Briton on board the AirAsia flight QZ8501 has been named as Chi Man Choi. He is thought to have been travelling with his daughter, Zoe, on tickets bought on Boxing Day. He is believed to hold a British passport but lives in Singapore with his family, says Channel News Asia.
11:25 pm
A US NTSB spokesman said the agency is monitoring the search for the missing AirAsia plane and stands "ready to assist the Indonesians if needed".
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Family members of passengers onboard AirAsia flight QZ8501 react at a waiting area in Juanda International Airport, Surabaya December 28, 2014. REUTERS/Beawiharta |
11:18 pm
Alexandra Topping has a roundup on reaction from families in Singapore and Indonesia.- the guardian
10:50 pm
AirAsia is a Malaysia-based airline that is popular in the region as a budget carrier. It has about 100 destinations, with affiliate companies in several Asian countries.
The missing plane is operated by AirAsia's Indonesian affiliate, in which the Malaysian company holds a 48.9% stake, according to its website.
AirAsia has a "very good" reputation for safety, CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest said.
Flight 8501's captain has a total of 6,100 flying hours, and the first officer a total of 2,275 flying hours, the airline said. The plane's last scheduled maintenance was on November 16, it said.
10:40 pm
Flight 8501 "was requesting deviation due to en route weather before communication with the aircraft was lost," the airline said.
The flight's captain asked permission to climb to a higher altitude, Murdjatmojo said, according to the national news agency.
According to flight tracking websites, almost the entire flight path of the plane was over the sea.
Bad weather gripped the region at the time, CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam said.
"We still had lines of very heavy thunderstorms" when the plane was flying, Van Dam said. "But keep in mind, turbulence doesn't necessarily bring down airplanes."
CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo said that if there was an onboard emergency, the pilots should have issued a mayday call or a pan-pan call.
9:25 pm
The Singaporean onboard missing flight AirAsia QZ8501 is a two-year-old girl who was travelling with her father, a British national. - The Straits Times
9:00 pm
Another AirAsia flight en route to Pulau Langkawi had to make a "U-turn" after taking off due to some "technical issue" on Sunday, according to Malaysia-based The Star.
Flight AK6242, with more than 150 passengers on board, departed at 4:30 pm from the Penang International Airport.
Sources said the flight eventually took off at 6:15 pm and reached its destination at 6:47 pm.
8:40 pm
While the air search has been suspended for the night, some boats are still looking for any sign of the plane, AP reported.
8:29 pm
The Jakarta Post reports that the Indonesian vice president, Jusuf Kalla, is leading the search for the missing AirAsia flight. Kalla said the search is called off until Monday.
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Indonesia's vice-president Jusuf Kalla (C) speaks to the media regarding AirAsia Flight QZ8501 during a visit to the National Search and Rescue Agency in Jakarta December 28, 2014. [Photo/Agencies] |
8:04 pm
"Given that the aircraft has been missing for so many hours, it is likely that the aircraft was not equipped with a continuous location reporting system," John Goglia wrote on Forbes.com.
7:43 pm
Indonesia has halted search for the day for missing AirAsia plane, says AFP.
Hadi Mustofa, Indonesian Transport Ministry official, tells AFP: "We ended at 1730 (1030 GMT) because it was getting dark. The weather was also not too good as it was getting really cloudy."
"Tomorrow we will begin at 7 am, or even earlier than that if the weather is good," he added.
7:37 pm
AirAsia issued a correction on its Facebook page about the nationalities of passengers and crew on board.
7:28 pm
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has offered a P3 Orion aircraft to help search, according to Australia-based ABC.
6:55 pm
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai dismissed reports that the wreckage of a missing AirAsia plane with 162 people aboard had been found, saying no information had been received about the whereabouts of the aircraft so far. - Xinhua
6:40 pm
Airbus has issued a statement with details of of the A320-200 that has disappeared. - the guardian
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5:35 pm
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore has confirmed that it is linking up with Indonesian authorities to help locate the missing plane. Australia and Malaysia have also offered assistance.
The authority's statement reads:
Indonesia has accepted Singapore's offer to assist in the search and locate efforts of the missing Indonesia AirAsia aircraft, QZ8501.
The Singapore Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC), managed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and supported by various agencies, including the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), had offered assistance to BASARNAS, the Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency, at 0930 hours local time, this morning.
We have offered our planes and ships to assist in the search, and received confirmation from the Indonesian authorities this afternoon at 1430 hours to accept our offer, requesting for one C130 for now. We have already launched it to assist with the search and locate efforts.
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| Family members of passengers on board AirAsia flight QZ 8501 talk on their phones while waiting for information inside a crisis centre at Juanda Airport in Surabaya, East Java Dec 28, 2014 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. [Photo/Agencies] |
5:30 pm
China's Foreign Ministry said it is closely monitoring developments in missing AirAsia flight QZ8501.
China is deeply worried about the safety of the passengers and crew and offers condolences to their families, Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement.
5:10 pm
Malaysia's China Press reports there is no terrorism link in the disapearance of AirAsia flight QZ8501.
4:50 pm
A C-130, a military transport aircraft, from Singapore has been launched to assist with the search efforts of 8501 plane - The Straits Times.
4:30 pm
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes tweeted that he is on his way "to Surabaya where most of the passengers are from" and that he will "provide information".
4:20 pm
Joko Widodo, Indonesia's president, has given a press conference on the missing plane.
His wife Iriana tweeted a comment that translates in English as "The president prays that the entire crew and passengers of AirAsia QZ8501 can be found safely," according to the Guardian.
3:20 pm
Indonesian transport officials have confirmed the pilot's name as Iriyanto (Indonesians often go by a single name). The co-pilot, who is French, has been named as Remi Emmanuel Plesel. - the guardian
3:10 pm
AirAsia flight 8501 from Surabaya to Singapore is believed to have crashed at the location 03.22.46 South and 108.50.07 East, in waters around 145 kilometers from Belitung, the Jakarta Globe quoted an Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) official as saying. The news has not been officially confirmed.
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| Family members of passengers on board AirAsia flight QZ 8501 look at a passenger list inside a crisis centre at Juanda Airport in Surabaya, East Java Dec 28, 2014 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. [Photo/Agencies] |
3:00 pm
No distress signal was sent, says Indonesian air transport director.
"We are coordinating with rescue team and looking for its position. We believe it is somewhere between Tanjung Pandan, a town on Belitung island, and Kalimantan," AFP quoted Indonesia's air transportation director-general Djoko Murjatmodjo as saying.
Indonesia's airforce spokesman Marsma Hadi Tjahjanto confirmed that the air force was using the last point of contact to conduct an air search.
2:48 pm
Aviation journalist John Walton has tweeted a picture of the approximate last known location of the flight.
2:39 pm
Very sad to hear that AirAsia Indonesia 8501 is missing. My thoughts are with the families. Malaysia stands ready to help, says Malaysia's Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Razak in a statement.
2:24 pm
Revised list of nationalities on board
The break-down of nationalities on board flight 8501 has been revised again by AirAsia on its Facebook page. It now stands at:
1 Singapore
1 Malaysia
1 France
3 South Korea
156 Indonesia
