JAKARTA (Reuters) - An AirAsia flight with 162 people
on board lost contact with air traffic control on
Sunday after the pilots asked to change course to
avoid bad weather during a flight from the Indonesian
city of Surabaya to Singapore, Indonesian officials
said.
Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ 8501, an Airbus 320-200, lost
contact with the Jakarta air traffic control tower at 6:17 a.m.
(6.17 p.m. EST), officials said.
"The aircraft was on the submitted flight plan route and was
requesting deviation due to enroute weather before
communication with the aircraft was lost while it was still
under the control of the Indonesian air traffic control," the
airline said in a statement.
No distress signal had been sent, said Joko Muryo Atmodjo,
air transportation director at the Indonesian Transport
Ministry.
A search and rescue operation had been launched, the airline
and the Indonesian air force said. Singapore said it had
activated its air force and navy to help.
Indonesia AirAsia is 49 percent owned by Malaysian-based
AirAsia.
The aircraft was between the Indonesian port of Tanjung
Pandan and the town of Pontianak, in West Kalimantan on
Borneo island, when it went missing, Atmodjo told a news
conference.
The aircraft had been flying at 32,000 feet and had asked to
fly at 38,000 feet to avoid clouds, he said.
Tanjung Pandan is the main town on Belitung island, roughly
half-way between Surabaya and Singapore, and Singapore's
Channel News Asia television said there was bad weather over
the island at the time the plane went missing.
Indonesia AirAsia said there were 155 passengers and seven
crew on board. It said 157 people on the flight were
Indonesian, with three from South Korea and one each from
Singapore and Malaysia.
The plane had been due in Singapore at 8:30 a.m. Singapore
time (0030 GMT).
The airline said the captain and first officer were both
experienced.
Neither Malaysia's AirAsia nor any of its affiliates in Indonesia,
Thailand, the Philippines and India have had any major
incidents or crashes.
Tony Fernandes, chief of Malaysia's AirAsia, said on Twitter:
"Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. We must stay
strong."
The incident comes at the end of a disastrous year for the
region's airlines.
Malaysia's national flag carrier, Malaysia Airlines, lost two
aircraft this year.
Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 on a trip from Kuala
Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board
and has still not been found.
On July 17, Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing
all 298 people on board.
Source- http://saharareporters.com BY (ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SIVA GOVINDASAMY IN
SINGAPORE; WRITING BY ROBERT BIRSEL; EDITING BY
RICHARD BORSUK AND DEAN YATES)
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