No bodies wearing life jacket'

QZ8501 AirAsia's Surabaya-Singapore flight carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members on board went missing on Sunday morning.

The Airbus 320-200 took off from Surabaya in Java, Indonesia, at 5.20am local time (6.20am Malaysian time) and was due to arrive in Singapore two hours later, but then lost contact with air traffic control.

Search and rescue (SAR) efforts have confirmed it crashed in the Karimata Straits between Belitung Island and Kalimantan.

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Latest developments

• DNA samples extracted from 30 families
   
• Praises for AirAsia CEO
   
• USS Sampson told to be on standby
   
• 'Stewardess' body found'
   
• Of seven bodies found, four are men and three women

LIVE REPORTS

Family identifies victim by her bracelet and ring

5.50pm: Family of deceased passenger Hayati Lutfiah confirms that she had worn bracelets and gold rings on both her right and left hands.

Her niece, Fany Meilinda, 29, said that her aunt had worn gold bracelets and rings, reports detik.com.

Indonesian navy ship KRI Bung Tomo’s commander Yayan Sofyan has earlier confirmed that a female body above the age of 40 found wearing a black shirt, still had her bracelet and gold ring on her right hand and finger.

5.25pm: Teams in search of the black box from Singapore and France have joined Indonesia’s National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) in Tanjung Pandan, Belitung.

detik.com reports a spokesperson from the team confirming that they are from Singapore, together with 11 other members, who are tasked to find the black box.

Indonesia navy: Up to 40 bodies retrieved and counting

QZ8501 AirAsia's Surabaya-Singapore flight carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members on board went missing on Sunday.

The Airbus 320-200 took off from Surabaya in Java, Indonesia, at 5.20am local time (6.20am Malaysian time) and was due to arrive in Singapore two hours later, but it lost contact with air traffic control.

Search and rescue (SAR) efforts have since been launched by the Indonesian authorities.

The first reports state that the plane allegedly crashed near Belitung Island, off the coast of Sumatra.

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Latest developments

• Debris sighted in search area
   
• Missing plane yet to be fitted with tracking tech
   
• US Navy sending ship to help
   
• Search area has been expanded and revised

LIVE REPORTS

Tens of bodies have been retrieved

5.38pm: Indonesia's warship Bun Tomo which retrieved the first bodies earlier today, has collected up to 40 of the deceased.

A navy spokesperson says more are being recovered from the sea, according to Channel News Asia.

Meanwhile, detik.com say some of the bodies retrieved are found with their hands held together.

'Plane may have tried emergency braking on water'

5.18pm: Indonesian officials indicate that they may have found the main wreckage of AirAsia Flight QZ8501.

Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency chief Bambang Soelistyo says the search and rescue operation has spotted a "shadow" on the sea bed that resembled an aircraft.

"The (Indonesian) air force's Hercules found an object described as a shadow at the bottom of the sea in the form of a plane," he is quoted as saying by AFP.

He says the site is around 160km south west of Pangkalan Bun, a town in Central Kalimantan on Borneo Island.

Meanwhile, detik.com quotes a Garuda Indonesia pilot saying that the shadow appears as the aircraft may have attempted to make an emergency landing on the water but failed, plunging sharply in a dive.

Rescuers see bodies and luggage off Borneo

QZ8501 Indonesian rescuers saw bodies and luggage off the coast of Borneo island today and officials said they were "95 percent sure" debris spotted in the sea was from a missing AirAsia plane with 162 people on board.

Indonesia AirAsia's Flight QZ8501, an Airbus A320-200, lost contact with air traffic control early on Sunday during bad weather on a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

Pictures of floating bodies were broadcast on television and relatives of the missing gathered at the crisis centre in Surabaya were shown weeping, their heads in their hands.

Media quoted an air force official earlier as saying one suspected body, luggage and a life vest were among the debris in the Java Sea.

"As we approached, the body seemed bloated," said First Lieutenant Tri Wibowo, who was on board a Hercules aircraft, was quoted by the Kompas.com website as saying.

Search and Rescue Agency chief Soelistyo told reporters he was "95 percent sure" the debris was from the missing plane.

Djoko Murjatmodjo, acting director general of air transportation at the transportation ministry, told reporters some of the debris spotted was red and white, AirAsia's colours.

"It's probably from the aircraft," he said.

About 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States were searching up to 10,000 square nautical miles on Tuesday.

The plane, which did not issue a distress signal, disappeared after its pilot failed to get permission to fly higher to avoid bad weather because of heavy air traffic, officials said.

Pilots and aviation experts said thunderstorms, and requests to gain altitude to avoid them, were not unusual in that area.

The Indonesian pilot was experienced and the plane last underwent maintenance in mid-November, the airline said.

Online discussion among pilots has centred on unconfirmed secondary radar data from Malaysia that suggested the aircraft was climbing at a speed of 353 knots, about 100 knots too slow, and that it might have stalled.

Disasters

The plane, whose engines were made by CFM International, co-owned by General Electric and Safran of France, lacked real-time engine diagnostics or monitoring, a GE spokesman said.

Such systems are mainly used on long-haul flights and can provide clues to airlines and investigators when things go wrong.

Three airline disasters involving Malaysian-affiliated carriers in less than a year have dented confidence in the country's aviation industry and spooked travellers across the region.

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board and has not been found. On July 17, the same airline's Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

On board Flight QZ8501 were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, and one person each from Singapore, Malaysia and
Britain. The co-pilot was French.

US law enforcement and security officials said passenger and crew lists were being examined but nothing significant had turned up and the incident was regarded as an unexplained accident.

Indonesia AirAsia is 49 percent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia.

The AirAsia group, including affiliates in Thailand, the Philippines and India, had not suffered a crash since its Malaysian budget operations began in 2002.

India is waiting to know what went wrong with the missing plane and will investigate if AirAsia India is following all safety procedures, a senior Indian aviation ministry official told Reuters. AirAsia India, a joint venture of the Malaysian carrier, started flying this year and is expanding operations.

The plane's disappearance comes at a sensitive time for Indonesia's aviation authorities, as they strive to improve the country's safety reputation to match its status as one of the airline industry's fastest growing markets.



Source- Reuters

'Object like that of human body spotted'

QZ8501 AirAsia's Surabaya-Singapore flight carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members on board went missing on Sunday.

The Airbus 320-200 took off from Surabaya in Java, Indonesia, at 5.20am local time (6.20am Malaysian time) and was due to arrive in Singapore two hours later, but it lost contact with air traffic control.

Search and rescue (SAR) efforts have since been
launched by the Indonesian authorities but have so far failed to produce results.

Reports that the plane may have crashed near Belituing Island, off the coast of Sumatra, have not been confirmed.


_______________________________________________________             LIVE REPORTS

New developments

• Debris sighted in search area
   
• Missing plane yet to be fitted with tracking tech
   
• US Navy sending ship to help
   
• Search area has been expanded and revised

2.43pm: The red and white debris sighted off Kalimantan in the Java sea is “likely” from from the AirAsia Flight QZ8501, Reutersquotes an Indonesian official as saying.

“We are checking if it’s debris from the aircraft. It’s probably from the body of the aircraft,” says Djoko Murjatmodjo, who is Indonesian Transport Ministry acting director-general of air transportation.

Why we blow Conch or Shankha?

When the conch (Shankha) is blown, the primal sound of Om emerges. Om is the sound that was emanated by God before creation of the universes.




The conch (sankha) is one of the attributes of Lord Vishnu. It is said that once a demon name Sankhasura harassed the Demigods and stole the Vedas and hid himself in an ocean. Lord Visnu incarnated as a huge golden fish ie Matsya Avatar and killed the demon. After this the Lord is supposed to have blown the conch- shaped bone of the ear of Sankhasura. From this, arose the sound Om and from this sound emerged the Vedas. The conch is therefore known as sankha after Sankhasura. The conch of Lord Vishnu or Lord Krishna is called the Pancajanya. It represents dharma or righteousness, which is one of the four objectives (purusarthas) of human life. The sound of the conch also symbolises the victory of the good over the evil.

During the ancient times, conches would be also blown before the start of a battle.There are two well-known verses in the first chapter of the Bhagvad Gita which describe the conches of Lord Krishna and the Pandavas on the battlefield of Kuruksetra-


Lord Krishna (Hrisikesa) blew His conch shell, called Pancajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhima, the voracious eater and performer of herculean tasks, blew his terrific conchshell, called Paundra’.

King Yudhishthira, the son of Kunti, blew his conch shell, the Ananta-vijaya, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughosa and Manipuspaka. That great archer the King of Kasi, the great fighter Sikhandi, Dhrishtadyumna, Virata, the unconquerable Satyaki, Drupada, the sons of Draupadi, and the others, O King, such as the mighty-armed son of Subhadra, all blew their respective conch shells.’

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
Conches also have been blown during aratis and important festivals in temples to serve as a reminder to those villagers or citizens who had missed the worship. The sound of the conch helps people to make their minds concentrate on God while praying and drive away other stray thoughts. The conch is placed in temples and even in domestic shrines as a symbol of Nada Brahma or the sound of Om, the Vedas, dharma, victory and auspiciousness. It is also at times used to give tirtha water (holy water) to devotees in a temple.

☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀☀
Because of its close association with Lord Vishnu, the blowing of the conch is an essential part of Vaishnavite ritual practices.
🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷

It is believed the blowing shankha destroys enemies and also pleases goddess Lakshmi.
🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺
Not just for religion, blowing shankha has scientific and ayurvedic benefits also. As per them, blowing shankha during puja has benefits on our lungs. This is because for blowing a shankha pure air reaches the lungs and impure air comes out. This makes the lungs strong.Blowing shankha also cures diseases of intestines.

Prepare for the worst, says Jakarta

QZ8501 AirAsia's Surabaya-Singapore flight carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members on board went missing yesterday.

The Airbus 320-200 took off from Surabaya in Java, Indonesia, at 5.20am local time (6.20am Malaysian time) and was due to arrive in Singapore two hours later, but it lost contact with air traffic control.

Indonesian authorities launched search and rescue (SAR) efforts yesterday but failed to produce results, and reports that the plane may have crashed near Belituing Island off the coast of Sumatra have not been confirmed.

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Latest developments

• Debris spotted in search area, source unconfirmed


• Rescue party says no sign of plane's emergency signal


• AirAsia shares plunge 12.9 percent


• Indonesia's SAR chief says plane 'likely at the bottom sea'


• Search and rescue operations resume

LIVE REPORTS

8.00pm: The aerial search operation is suspended as as night falls and will resume at first light tomorrow.

According to Reuters, Indonesia's Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan says ships will still continue the search for AirAsia Flight QZ8501 through the night.

Jonan adds that the operation is focusing on an area of 70 nautical kilometres square between the island of Belitung and Borneo Island.

The water there is only 50 to 100 metres deep, which will help the operation, he says.

Object spotted not confirmed'

5.52pm: Indonesian vice president Jusuf Kalla says he has been informed about the alleged wreckage found in the Java Sea by an Australian surveillance aircraft.

However, Jusuf says he cannot confirm the finding until further analysis is conducted, reports Channel News Asia.

He adds that the search and rescue operations will continue without any fixed time frame and is "prepared for the worst".

The vice president says a multinational team comprising some 30 ships and aircraft are scouring the area of AirAsia QZ8501's last known location and local fishermen are also being roped in to help.

He says UK and France are the latest countries to offer help and Indonesia is considering the offer.

Meanwhile, Air Asia group chief executive officer Tony Fenandes says his airliner will not be going into compensation issues as yet, as the search for the missing aircraft is ongoing.

SAR chief: Flight QZ8501 likely 'at bottom of sea'

QZ8501 AirAsia's Surabaya-Singapore flight carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members on board went missing yesterday.

The Airbus 320-200 took off from Surabaya in Java, Indonesia, at 5.20am local time (6.20am Malaysian time) and was due to arrive in Singapore two hours later, but it lost contact with air traffic control.

Indonesian authorities launched search and rescue (SAR) efforts yesterday but failed to produce results, and reports that the plane may have crashed near Belituing Island off the coast of Sumatra have not been confirmed.

---

Latest developments

• AirAsia shares plunge 12.9 percent


• Indonesia's SAR chief says plane 'likely at the bottom sea'


• Search and rescue operations resume

LIVE REPORTS

11.40am: Luck shined on an Indonesian family of 10 that was supposed to board Flight QZ8501 yesterday. They missed the flight as they had arrived late at the airport.

Indonesian news portal Metronews quoted a family member, Ari Putro Cahyono, as saying the family had arrived at 5.30am as the flight was scheduled to depart at 7.20am.

Ari said he did not read the email notifying him of the change of departure to 5.20am.

Although the airline offered Ari and his family to board the next flight, they decided to cancel their trip to Singapore after being informed about 6.30am that the air traffic control had lost contact with QZ8501.

11.00am: AirAsia shares plunge up to 12.9 percent when Bursa Malaysia opens this morning, following the lost Flight QZ8501 yesterday.

AirAsia, which owns 49 percent of AirAsia Indonesia, saw its share price fall to as low as RM2.56.

However, the airliner's shares have since recovered slightly to RM2.72, down 7.5 percent from its last closing price of RM2.94.

Pope prays for those on board QZ8501

QZ8501 AirAsia's Surabay-Singapore flight yesterday carrying with 155 passengers and seven crew members on board went missing yesterday.

The Airbus 320-200 took off from Surabaya, Indonesia at 5.20am local time (6.20am Malaysian time) and was due to arrive in Singapore two hours later, but has lost contact with air traffic control.

Indonesian authorities launched search and rescue (SAR) efforts yesterday but failed to produce results, and reports that the plane may have crashed near Belituing Island off the coast of Sumatra have not been confirmed.

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Latest developments

• Search and rescue operations resume

LIVE REPORTS

9am: During his Sunday address at St Peter's Square in the Vatican, Pope Francis (right) says those on board were in his prayers, reports Reuters today.
 
Meanwhile Louise Sidharta was at Singapore's Changi Airport waiting for her fiancée to return from a family holiday. "It was supposed to be their last vacation before we got married," she says. 
 
A man named Purnomo tellsTVOne in Surabaya of his lucky escape. "I should have been on the flight ... but this morning I had an emergency. I had my passport in hand." 

8.57am: The Foreign Ministry has opened a 24-hour operations room on missing flight QZ8501.

A Bernama report stated that the 24-hour operations centre can be contacted at +603-88874570 and +603-88892746.

7.54am: The Indonesian search and rescue operations resume this morning, reports ABC News. Yesterday's search was called off at sundown because of approaching nightfall and poor weather conditions during the heavy monsoon season.

Meanwhile the United States says it is ready to help with the search for a missing AirAsia plane, the US State Department said on Sunday according to Reuters. 
 
"Authorities in the region are leading the search for the missing airplane. As we have in the past, the United States stands ready to assist in any way that's helpful," the  department said in a statement. 

There has still been no confirmation of Indonesian media reports yesterday that the plane may have crashed off the coast of Belitung Island, roughly a third of the distance to Singapore from Surabaya along the flight path.
 
Singapore sends a second RSAF C-130 to join the search, according to local daily Today.

Background
 
Indonesia searches the Java Sea on Monday for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that went missing yesterday morning after its pilot failed to gain permission to alter course to avoid a storm cell during a flight from Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. 
 
Flight QZ8501 did not issue a distress signal and disappeared five minutes after requesting a change of course on Sunday, says government and transport officials. 
 
Air Force spokesman Hasi Thahjanto says two C-130 Hercules planes are 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 says it has 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 will send three naval vessels and a C-130 to assist, Singapore's Channel News Asia television reported. An Australian P3 Orion surveillance plane left Darwin to join the search, Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio says. The United States, Britain, South Korea and India also offer help. 
 
"We have been coordinating with parties from Singapore, Malaysia and Australia who have (expressed) a willingness to assist," Tataog Zainuddin, director of operations at the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency, tells Reuters. 
 
Indonesia AirAsia is 49 percent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier Air Asia. The AirAsia group, including affiliates in Thailand, the Philippines and India, has not suffered a crash since its Malaysian budget operations began in 2002. 
 
Onboard Flight QZ8501 are 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one person each from Singapore, Malaysia and Britain, while the co-pilot is French. 
 
There is bad weather in the area at the time and the aircraft has been flying at 32,000 feet before asking to fly at 38,000 feet to avoid clouds, says Joko Muryo Atmodjo, air transportation director at Indonesia's transport ministry. 
 
Permission has not yet been given due to traffic in the area, and five minutes later, at 6:17am on Sunday (local time), the plane lost contact with air traffic control, Atmodjo added. 
 
The pilot "is requesting deviation due to en-route weather before communication with the aircraft is lost," the airline says. 
 
"We are cooperating with the relevant authorities to the fullest extent to determine the cause of this incident," says Indonesia AirAsia Chief Executive Sunu Widyatmoko.  
 
The incident caps a disastrous year for Malaysia-affiliated airlines. Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board and has not been found. 
 
On July 17, the same airline's Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

Like all affiliates of AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia operates Airbus jets, of which it has 30 of the A320 model. 
 
AirAsia has ordered several hundred jets from the European planemaker, making it one of its most important customers. The missing plane has been in service for just over six years, according to airfleets.net. 
 
Indonesian officials from the civil aviation authority and transport safety committee, which are responsible for crash investigations, arrived in Surabaya on Sunday. A transport ministry official said Indonesia would handle the probe. 
 
"The aircraft was registered in Indonesia and it looks to be missing over Indonesian territory, so we will lead the investigation," said the official, who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media. 
 
"We have the expertise to do this." 


Source- Reuters

AirAsia boss: This is my worst nightmare

QZ8501 An AirAsia aircraft with 155 passengers and seven crew members on board has gone missing.

The Airbus 320-200 took off from Surabaya, Indonesia at 5.20am local time (6.20am Malaysian time) and was due to arrive in Singapore two hours later, but has lost contact with air traffic control.

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Latest developments

• Air Asia boss Tony Fernandes says plane was in good condition
   
• No oil slicks found, Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) not sending signal
•  
• Malaysia deploys one military aircraft and three vessels, with helicopters on board for the search


• Malaysian on board identified as Sarawakian businessman


• Indonesia denies confirming reports plane has crashed off Belitung island yet, still checking


• AirAsia says aircraft requested flight path change due to weather conditions


• Indonesia, Singapore launch search and rescue operations

Experts say ‘something serious’ happened to AirAsia flight

KUALA LUMPUR: Various aviation experts and correspondents closely following news of the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 have said that something very bad must have occurred to result in it going off the radar.

With so little factual information currently available except for the extreme weather conditions, aviation expert Doug Maclean told Sky News that all the evidence currently suggests that “something very serious” had happened to flight QZ8501.

Another air crash search and rescue expert William Waldock from the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University meanwhile zeroed in on the aircraft’s crew requesting for an unusual route, remarking that this was surprising because the weather, although previously described as extreme, “didn’t seem to be anything unusual”.

Meanwhile Singapore’s Sunday Times reported: “No distress signal was sent, said the Indonesian air transport authorities.”

According to an AFP report, Indonesian officials are sticking to the theory that extreme weather conditions were most likely the cause of the aircraft now having gone missing.

An official from Indonesia’s transport ministry said the pilot asked to ascend 6,000 feet to 38,000 feet to avoid heavy clouds.

“The plane is in good condition but the weather is not so good,” Djoko Murjatmodjo told a press conference at Jakarta’s airport, addressing reports of severe storms in the area where the jet went missing.

The Indonesian air force has since despatched two of its planes to scour an area of the Java Sea, southwest of Pangkalan Bun in Kalimantan province.

“The weather is cloudy and the area is surrounded by sea. We are still on our way so we won’t make an assumption on what happened to the plane,” said Indonesian air force spokesman Hadi Cahyanto.

Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2014/12/28/experts-say-something-serious-happened-to-airasia-flight/