After the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on March 8 and the shooting down of MH17 over Ukraine on July 17, we are again in shock and disbelief when news about AirAsia Flight QZ8501 failed to land in Singapore during a flight from Surabaya this morning.
The plane with seven crew and 155 passengers lost contacts with Indonesian control tower in a stormy weather near Pulau Belitung off Palembang.
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AirAsia Emergency Call Centre: +622129850801
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Meanwhile, AirAsia Group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes (pic) has asked his company to stay strong after Flight QZ8501 lost communication with Indonesia's Surabaya airport 42 minutes after takeoff at 5:35am local time Sunday.
“We will be putting out another statement soon. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. We must stay strong,” tweeted Fernandes at 12.52pm on Sunday.
The plane with 162 people aboard lost contact with ground control on Sunday after takeoff from Indonesia on the way to Singapore, and the airline said search and rescue operations were underway.
AirAsia said in a statement that the plane was an Airbus A320-200 and that search and rescue operations were in progress.
The plane with seven crew and 155 passengers lost contacts with Indonesian control tower in a stormy weather near Pulau Belitung off Palembang.
It will be another sad episode for Malaysians and world aviation. With MH370 is still nowhere to be traced and MH17 under full investigation, QZ8501 is adding sorrow to us.
In Kuala Lipis, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Malaysia was prepared to help Indonesia over the reported missing AirAsia Indonesia aircraft on flight QZ8501, today.
While still waiting for more details on the incident, Najib said what could be confirmed so far was that the Indonesian-owned aircraft went missing from the radar screens soon after departure.
"This means the possibility of something untoward happening to the aircraft. That's all I know (about the incident) right now and we will assist in finding out what happened to the aircraft."
In Kuala Lipis, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Malaysia was prepared to help Indonesia over the reported missing AirAsia Indonesia aircraft on flight QZ8501, today.
While still waiting for more details on the incident, Najib said what could be confirmed so far was that the Indonesian-owned aircraft went missing from the radar screens soon after departure.
"This means the possibility of something untoward happening to the aircraft. That's all I know (about the incident) right now and we will assist in finding out what happened to the aircraft."
Amid efforts to help about 150,000 flood victims nationwide, let's pray for QZ8501.An AirAsia Airbus A320-200 has gone missing on a flight from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore, shortly after the pilots requested to change the flightplan because of weather, the airline said today.The plane, flight QZ8501, which reportedly had 162 people on board, lost contact at 7:24 a.m. local time near Belitung Island, Indonesia, according to a statement from AirAsia. It was scheduled to land in Singapore at 8:30 a.m. local time.The aircraft was on the submitted flight plan but 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, AirAsia said.According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, the jet was flying at the regular cruising altitude for most jetliners -- 32,000 feet -- when the signal was lost."At the present time we unfortunately have no further information regarding the status of the passengers and crew members on board, but we will keep all parties informed as more information becomes available," AirAsia said.The captain in command had a total of 6,100 flying hours and the first officer a total of 2,275 flying hours, according to the airline. The aircraft had undergone its last scheduled maintenance on 16 November 2014.The flight manifest for the the Airbus A320-200, with the registration number PK-AXC, released by the Indonesian authorities said there were 155 passengers on board, including one infant and 16 children.Of the pasengers, 157 were Indonesians, three were South Korean, and there was one traveler each from Malaysia and Singapore, according to AirAsia.Search and rescue operations were in progress, AirAsia said.
AirAsia Emergency Call Centre: +622129850801
“We will be putting out another statement soon. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. We must stay strong,” tweeted Fernandes at 12.52pm on Sunday.
The plane with 162 people aboard lost contact with ground control on Sunday after takeoff from Indonesia on the way to Singapore, and the airline said search and rescue operations were underway.
AirAsia said in a statement that the plane was an Airbus A320-200 and that search and rescue operations were in progress.