Jakarta/Singapore, Indonesian
authorities today halted the search operation for the missing Air Asia flight
QZ8501 for the day, after the night set in. The operation will resume tomorrow
morning even as some reports suggest that the plane may have crashed in Java
sea.
Some
ships will continue scouring overnight while the search operation will resume
tomorrow morning, officials said.
Helpline
number: +622129850801.
The
AirAsia flight QZ8501 with 162 people on board went missing en route from
Indonesia to Singapore today after pilots requested a change of flight plan due
to bad weather, triggering a massive search in the third major incident this
year involving a Malaysian carrier. There were no Indian nationals on board
Flight QZ8501.
Amid fading hopes of finding
any survivors, the massive search operation launched to locate the Airbus
A320-200 with two Indonesian military aircraft and a chopper scouring the seas
was called off for the day due to bad weather and darkness, 11 hours after the
plane disappeared.
AirAsia
Flight QZ8501 carrying 155 passengers – one British, one Malaysian, one
Singaporean, three South Koreans, 149 Indonesians — and seven crew members —
six Indonesians and a French co-pilot — lost contact with air traffic control
at 0724 local time Indonesia (0454 IST).
Indonesian
Vice President Jusuf Kalla, speaking 10 hours after the plane lost contact,
expressed deep concern, saying, “It is most possible that it has experienced an
accident.” Contact with the plane, which took off from Surabaya (Indonesia) at
5:20 am local time and was scheduled to land at Singapore’s Changi Airport at
8:30 am, was lost 42 minutes after takeoff.
Sixteen children and one infant
were among the passengers on board the plane with the registration number
PK-AXC. Indonesian officials earlier said the plane was several hours past the
time when its fuel would have been exhausted. There were unconfirmed media
reports that a aircraft crashed in the waters of East Belitung, off the east
coast of Sumatra. The exact location of the crash site has not been identified,
media reports said.
However, Malaysia’s Transport
Minister Liow Tiong Lai dismissed the claims that wreckage of the aircraft had
been found. Asked about reports that the missing flight has crashed in
Belintung, Liow confirmed the reports to be false.
“There
is plenty of speculation that they have found the plane. At this point in time
that is not true. We are still looking for the plane,” Liow said. A statement
on AirAsia’s Facebook page said: “AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that
flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic
control at 0724 hrs this morning.”
Indonesian Transport Ministry
official Hadi Mustofa said the plane had asked for an unusual route before it
lost contact. Air Asia said the pilots requested “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 Indonesia air
transportation director said the pilot requested to increase altitude to 38,000
feet from 32,000 feet to “avoid clouds.” Thunderstorms were reported in the
area with clouds up to 50,000 feet. (Source- www.newsroompost.com)
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