AirAsia flight from Indonesia to Singapore missing

An AirAsia flight with 162 people aboard went missing en route from Indonesia to Singapore today after losing contact with air traffic controllers. There were unconfirmed reports that an aircraft has crashed in the waters off East Belitung, off the east coast of Sumatra. However, the details of the aircraft were not known.

A transport official said, Flight QZ8501 lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control just after 07:24 am local time. Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said aircraft was in the Indonesian Flight Information Region when contact was lost, 42 minutes after takeoff. There were no Indian nationals on board. An Indonesian transport official confirmed that seven crew and 155 passengers were on board. The plane took off from Surabaya (Indonesia) at 5.20 am local time and was scheduled to land at Singapore's Changi Airport at 8.30 am.

Indonesian Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa said, the plane had asked for an unusual route before it lost contact, local media reported. Air Asia said the pilot had requested deviation from its flight plan because of bad weather. Indonesian TV channels said there were 149 Indonesians, three Koreans, one Singaporean, one Briton and one Malaysian on board.

A statement on AirAsia's Face book page said, at the present there is no further information regarding the status of the passengers and crew members on board, but all parties will be informed as more information becomes available. Search and rescue operations are in progress and Air Asia is cooperating fully and assisting the rescue service, the statement said. Malaysia has also offered assistance in the search operation.

AirAsia is popular in the region as a budget carrier. It has about 100 destinations, with subsidiaries in several Asian countries. The loss of contact with the AirAsia plane comes nearly10 months after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370, which dropped off radar over Southeast Asia on March 8. Searchers are yet to find any debris from Flight MH 370,which officials believe crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.