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
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.
Its long-haul sister company, Air Asia X, which rides on the same brand name, was also impacted as its shares tumbled 11 percent to RM0.61 compared to its last closing price of RM0.685.
Its price has since recovered slightly to RM0.64.
10.45am: Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency chief Bambang Soelistyo says missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501 is likely "at the bottom of the sea", according to AFP.
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Based on the coordinates given to us and evaluation that the estimated crash position is in the sea, the hypothesis is the plane is at the bottom of the sea," he is quoted as saying at a press conference in Jakarta.Bambang (left) says this is the "preliminary suspicion" based on evidence gathered so far.
10.29am: The missing Airbus 320-200 lacks a real time engine diagnostics which could provide valuable clues to investigators on what went wrong with Flight QZ8501, reports Reuters.
"This particular aircraft did not have the real-time remote engine diagnostics service," a General Electric (GE) spokesperson was quoted as saying.
GE co-owns CFM International with Safran which built the aircraft.Such service is provided for long-haul flights and short-haul flights like this one are not normally equipped with it.
The report noted the aircraft used in the flight is considered 'young', having been in service between six and seven years but having a life cycle of 25 years.
10am: More than 100 distraught relatives of passengers on board Flight QZ8501 gathers at the makeshift crisis centre at Surabaya airport since yesterday, according to Reuters.
Earlier, AirAsia group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes had personally comforted families at the airport.
"We've been given accommodation from AirAsia but I cannot rest with this on my mind," a relative identified as Haryanto was quoted as saying.
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
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