Update as of 5:29 PM IST 28 Dec. 2014
Air Asia flight bound for Singapore lost contact with air traffic: Report
An Air Asia plane travelling from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control, Indonesia's Metro TV reported on Sunday.
QZ 8501 took off from Surabaya at 5.20 am local time on Sunday and was scheduled to land at Changi Airport at 8.30 am, according to Metro TV.
Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa told Indonesian media that the aircraft lost contact with the Jakarta air traffic control tower at 6.17 am local time. He said the plane had asked for an unusual route before it lost contact, Reuters reported.
There are reportedly 162 people on board.
http://www.straitstimes.com/st/print/3249717
An airport official checks a map of Indonesia at the crisis center set up for the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501. Photograph: Trisnadi/AP
Jonathan Kaiman in Beijing has sent in a roundup on the disappearance of AirAsia flight QZ8501.
An AirAsia passenger jet with 162 people on board disappeared during a flight between Indonesia and Singapore on Sunday morning, prompting an international search and rescue operation.AirAsia flight QZ8501, an Airbus 320-200 passenger jet, took off from the Indonesian metropolis Surabaya at 5:27 AM, and lost all contact with air control at 7:24 am as it travelled along its regular flight path, according to the flight tracking website FlightRadar24. The aircraft had earlier requested to deviate from the path “due to en route weather,” according to a statement on AirAsia’s Facebook page. It did not send out a distress signal.
The pilot requested that he turn left and rise from 34,000 to 38,000 feet, Djoko Murjatmodjo, the acting director general of Air Transport at Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation, told reporters. “At the moment, we don’t know where the exact location is, except that this morning at 0617, we lost contact,” he said.
On Sunday afternoon, AirAsia changed the colour of its logo on social media sites to gray, and the company CEO Tony Fernandes tweeted that he was travelling to the metropolis Surabaya, the home of many of the jet’s passengers. “Providing information as we get it,” he wrote.
Those onboard included two pilots, five cabin crew members and 155 passengers. Among them, 156 were from Indonesia, three from South Korea, and one each from Singapore, France and Malaysia. The passenger list included 16 children and one infant. Relatives of passengers and crew have gathered for news briefings in Surabaya and Singapore.
Airbus said in a statement that the aircraft was delivered to AirAsia “from the production line” in October 2008, and had “accumulated approximately 23,000 flight hours in some 13,600 flights.” The statement continued: “At this time, no further factual information is available”.
Indonesia’s army and national Search and Rescue Agency have launched a search effort for the plane’s wreckage focusing on an area of the Java Sea near Belitung, an island off of the east coast of Sumatra. They have dispatched three aircraft including a surveillance plane, according to Air Force spokesman Hadi Tjahjanto. Malaysia and Australia have also offered their help, and Singapore has dispatched a C130 turboprop plane for assistance.
“My only thought are with the (passengers) and my crew,” Fernandes wrote in a later tweet. “We put our hope in the SAR operation and thank the Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysian governments.”
China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a press briefing that China is “deeply concerned” for the safety of the jet’s passengers and crew. Barack Obama, currently on holiday in Hawaii, has been briefed on the jet’s disappearance, according to White House spokesperson Eric Schultz. South Korean government officials, responding to the news that three South Korean citizens were onboard the plane, have called an emergency meeting at the country’s foreign ministry in Seoul.
The UK Foreign Office ministry said in a statement: “We are aware of an incident regarding AirAsia flight QZ8501. Our thoughts are with the passengers’ families as they await further news. We have been informed by the local authorities that one British national was on board. Their next of kin has been informed, and we stand ready to provide consular assistance.”
AirAsia is a budget airline headquartered near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sunday’s incident marks the third sudden disappearance of a Malaysian carrier this year. On 8 March, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished while carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing; although investigators suspect that it crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean, they have found no wreckage, and the jet’s fate remains unclear. In July, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 lost contact when it was shot down over Ukraine, ostensibly by Russian separatists, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.
Airbus statement on disappearance of Flight QZ 8501
This is Mark Tran taking over from Oliver Milman in Australia. Airbus has issued this statement with details of of the A320-200 that has disappeared. The plane, which was delivered to AirAsia in 2008, had 23,000 flight hours in some 13,600 flights.
Airbus regrets to confirm that an A320-200 operated by AirAsia Indonesia lost contact with air traffic control this morning, 28th December 2014. The aircraft was operating a scheduled service, Flight QZ 8501, from Surabaya to Singapore.The aircraft involved is MSN (Manufacturer Serial Number) 3648, registered as PK-AXC and was delivered to AirAsia from the production line in October 2008. Powered by CFM 56-5B engines, the aircraft had accumulated approximately 23,000 flight hours in some 13,600 flights. At this time no further factual information is available.In line with the ICAO Annex 13 international convention, Airbus will provide full assistance to the French safety investigation authority, BEA, and to the authorities in charge of the investigation.The Airbus A320-200 is a twin-engine single-aisle aircraft seating up to 180 passengers in a single-class configuration. The first A320 entered service in March 1988. By the end of November 2014, over 6000 A320 Family aircraft were in service with over 300 operators. To date, the entire fleet has accumulated some 154 million flight hours in some 85 million flights.Airbus will make further factual information available as soon as the details have been confirmed and cleared by the authorities.The thoughts of the Airbus management and staff are with all those affected by Flight QZ 8501.
Updated
The UK Foreign Office has confirmed that a Briton was on board flight QZ8501. A spokesman said:
We are aware of an incident regarding AirAsia flight QZ8501. Our thoughts are with the passengers’ families as they await further news.We have been informed by the local authorities that one British national was on board. Their next of kin has been informed, and we stand ready to provide consular assistance.
Updated
I’m preparing to hand this blog over to my UK colleagues. Thanks for joining me for the developments as they unfolded today. As we poke at the dying embers of 2014 it’s clear that, sadly, we haven’t been short of various travails and traumas to cover in this fashion of late.
Anyway, to recap -
- 162 people were on board AirAsia flight QZ8501 from Indonesia to Singapore, which lost contact with air traffic control this morning.
- A search and rescue operation, spearheaded by Singapore and Indonesia, is under way. Malaysia and Australia have offered help.
- The flight was looking to divert from its intended path, in the face of stormy weather, shortly before losing contact off the coast of West Kalimantan.
- Relatives of those on board have been gathering for briefings in Surabaya and Singapore.
Updated
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.The Indonesia AirAsia flight went missing this morning, more than 200 nautical miles southeast of the Singapore-Jakarta Flight Information Region boundary.
From Jon Kaiman, the Guardian’s man in Beijing:
By now, the plane would have exhausted its fuel supply, and foreign governments have begun to send messages of support. Singapore, Malaysia and Australia have offered to help in the search effort.China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a press briefing that China is “deep concerned” for the safety of the jet’s passengers and crew. Barack Obama has been briefed on the jet’s disappearance, a White House spokesperson said.
Updated
Tony Fernandes, chief executive of AirAsia and chairman of the English football club QPR, has said on Twitter that he is heading to Indonesia.
He adds in a slightly longer statement: “My only thought are with the passengers and my crew. We put our hope in the SAR operation and thank the Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysian governments.”
SAR is search and rescue, presumably.
Updated
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’s Indonesia contributor Kate Lamb, the president has been in West Papua to attend Christmas celebrations in the provincial capital, Jayapura. After Christmas Day celebrations Jokowi was scheduled to attend three other towns in Papua during his trip.
Updated
What we know so far
- A search and rescue operation is under way near Indonesia for a missing aircraft.
- AirAsia said its flight Qz8501, flying from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, lost contact with air traffic control at 7.24am local time.
- 162 people are on board the A320-200, including seven crew.
- The passengers and crew include 156 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one French person, one Malaysian and one Singaporean, according to AirAsia.
- The pilot has been named as Iriyanto, while the copilot been named as Remi Emmanuel Plesel.
- Indonesian transport officials say the crew asked to ascend to 38,000ft to avoid bad weather shortly before contact was lost. No distress call was made.
- There are reports that rescue teams are searching an area 145km from the island of Belitung, which lies between Sumatra and Borneo.
- AirAsia has set up a hotline for those concerned about family and friends on the flight - +622129850801
- Julie Bishop, Australia’s foreign minister, says she understands there are no Australians on board but has offered Australian help for the search and rescue mission.
Updated
Indonesian transport officials have confirmed the pilot’s name as Iriyanto (Indonesians often go by a single name). The copilot, who is French, has been named as Remi Emmanuel Plesel.
Officials said that no distress call was made prior to contact being lost with the plane.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s transport minister has visited AirAsia’s headquarters.
