Updated

Missing AirAsia plane may have crashed: Indonesia

Jakarta, Dec 28 (IANS): The AirAsia plane that went missing Sunday morning with 162 people aboard might have crashed, Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said.

Kalla, who is leading the search and rescue mission, told a press conference here that the passenger jet flying from Indonesia to Singapore might have crashed but he has no information about the crash site.

"We haven't got any information that indicates where the plane (has) crashed," Kalla was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

Earlier, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiang Lai rubbished claims that wreckage of the aircraft was found in the search area.

AirAsia flight QZ 8501 lost contact with the air traffic control Sunday soon after taking off from Surabaya in Indonesia's East Java province for Singapore's Changi Airport.

The aircraft was at 32,000 feet over Java Sea in Indonesian territory when it lost contact with the air traffic control. A thunderstorm was raging in the area at that time.

The military launched a major search that was called off at dusk.

The aircraft took off at 5.20 a.m. (local time) from the Indonesian city of Surabaya and was to land at Singapore's Changi Airport at 8.30 a.m., the low-cost airline owned by an Indian-origin Malaysian and officials said.

Indonesian officials said the pilot sought an unusual route due to thunderstorms between Kalimantan and Belitung island, before the aircraft lost contact with the air traffic control.

"The weather was not good, it was bad at the estimated location when the plane lost contact," an Indonesian transport ministry official added.

The 162 passengers and crew on board included 138 adults, 16 children, an infant, two pilots and five cabin crew.

AirAsia Indonesia issued a fresh list of the people on board the pasenger jet. The revised list said 149 Indonesians, one Singaporean, one Malaysian, three South Koreans and one Briton were on the flight.

The crew members include one French and six Indonesians, Xinhua reported.

In no time, the air force and navy ships from Indonesia and Singapore launched a major search for the missing plane in the Java sea. Australia too has offered help, and so has Malaysia.

Rescuers suspended their operation at nightfall Sunday. An official with Indonesia's transport ministry said the search will resume Monday.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said the plane went off the radar 42 minutes after take-off, The Star newspaper said.

"This means the possibility of something untoward happening to the aircraft," he said in Kuala Lumpur.

According to AirAsia, the captain of the Airbus A320-200 has 6,100 flying hours and the first officer 2,275 flying hours to their credit.

Grieving family members and friends of the passengers thronged the airports at Surabaya, to which most of the passengers belonged, as well as Singapore. Some wept openly.

AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes flew from Malaysia to Surabaya. "My prayers are with the (distraught) families," he said.

The incident comes at the end of a disastrous year for Malaysia's airlines.

National flag carrier Malaysia Airlines lost two aircraft this year. Its flight MH370 went missing March 8 en route Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board.

On July 17, Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

AirAsia, which started operations under the present ownership in 2001, flies to 88 destinations. In India, AirAsia's maiden flight took off June 11 from Bengaluru to Panjim.

The Indo-Malaysian joint venture of AirAsia flies to and from Bengaluru, Jaipur, Chennai, Kochi, Chandigarh, Pune and Goa, an airline spokesperson told IANS.

It also flies between Kuala Lumpur and Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu and Kolkata and connects Chennai and Bangkok.

Says the AirAsia web site: "Our commitment to low fares lies in our promise of 'Now Everyone Can Fly'."

"Our service targets guests who can do without the frills of full-service airlines in exchange for low fares."

Earlier Report

AirAsia plane with 162 aboard missing in Indonesia

Jakarta, Dec 28 (PTI): An AirAsia flight with 162 people aboard went missing en route from Indonesia to Singapore today after losing contact with air traffic controllers.

There were unconfirmed reports that an aircraft has crashed in the waters off East Belitung, off the east coast of Sumatra. However, the details of the aircraft were not known.

A transport official said Flight QZ8501 lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control just after 07:24am local time

The aircraft was in the Indonesian Flight Information Region (FIR), more than 200 nm southeast of the Singapore- Jakarta FIR boundary, when contact was lost, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said.

Contact with the plane was lost 42 minutes after takeoff. There were no Indian nationals on board.

An Indonesian transport official confirmed that seven crew and 155 passengers were on board.

The plane 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.

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 0724hrs this morning."

"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," the Malaysia-based carrier said in a statement.

The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC.

"At this time, search and rescue operations are in progress and AirAsia is cooperating fully and assisting the rescue service," the statement said.

Indonesian Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa said the plane had asked for an unusual route before it lost contact, local media reported.

Air Asia said the pilot had requested "deviation" from the its flight plan because of bad weather.

"The aircraft... was requesting deviation due to en route weather," it said.

Indonesian TV channels said there were 149 Indonesians, three Koreans, one Singaporean, one Briton and one Malaysian on board.

Search and rescue operations have been activated by the Indonesian authorities from the Pangkal Pinang Search and Rescue office. The CAAS and Changi Airport Group (CAG) Crisis Management Centres have already been activated.

"We are working with the airline’s crisis management team," it said.

AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes has asked his company to stay strong.

"Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. We must stay strong," tweeted Fernandes, an ethnic Indian, who set up the budget airlines which now flies to several countries.

Malaysia has also offered assistance in the search operation.

AirAsia is popular in the region as a budget carrier. It has about 100 destinations, with subsidiaries in several Asian countries.

The loss of contact with the AirAsia plane comes nearly 10 months after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370, which dropped off radar over Southeast Asia on March 8.

Searchers are yet to find any debris from Flight MH 370, which officials believe crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.