AirAsia has officially confirmed that it has lost contact with a flight going from Surabaya to Singapore. Here is the company’s statement released on their Facebook page:
AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24hrs 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 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.
AirAsia has established an Emergency Call Centre that is available for family or friends of those who may have been on board the aircraft. The number is: +622129850801.
AirAsia will release further information as soon as it becomes available. Updated information will also be posted on the AirAsia website, www.airasia.com.
Air Asia has not yet confirmed the number of passengers on board but most media outlets are reporting the flight was carrying 162 passengers.
MetroTV quoted Hadi Mostafa, a representative of Indonesia’s Communications Ministry, as saying “The flight took off from Bandara Juanda Airport at 5.35am WIB (Western Indonesia Time) – 6.35am Malaysian time – and lost contact at 6.17am WIB (7.17am Malaysia).”
He added that the aircraft was flying over the Java Sea when air traffic control lost contact with it.
“Flight QZ8501 was on its scheduled route at the time.”
Update 11:40 WIB: Detik has just posted photos of the passenger manifest
Update 11:45 WIB: Here is a statement from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore:
Update 11:53 WIB: Air Asia has changed it’s Facebook header to greyscale
Update 12:50 WIB: QZ8501 reportedly passed through “extreme weather” near Kalimantan
“We must stay strong,” Air Asia CEO Tony Fernandes tweets. Expect more official statements from Air Asia soon.
Update 12:18 WIB: China Central Television (CCTV) tweets airplane wreckage reportedly found East of Belitung Island.
Update 12:31 WIB: An ‘Arrivals’ screen at the Changi International Airport, Singapore:
Update 12:39 WIB: Updated statement from Air Asia
AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24 (Surabaya LT) this morning. The flight took off from Juanda International Airport in Surabaya at 0535hours.
The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC. There were two pilots, four flight attendants and one engineer on board.
The captain in command had a total of 6,100 flying hours and the first officer a total of 2,275 flying hours
There were 155 passengers on board, with 138 adults, 16 children and 1 infant. Also on board were 2 pilots and 5 cabin crew.
Nationalities of passengers and crew onboard are as below:
1 Singapore
1 Malaysia
1 France
3 South Korean
156 Indonesia
At this time, search and rescue operations are being conducted under the guidance of The Indonesia of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). AirAsia Indonesia is cooperating fully and assisting the investigation in every possible way.
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 (ATC).
The aircraft had undergone its last scheduled maintenance on 16 November 2014.
AirAsia has established an Emergency Call Centre that is available for family or friends of those who may have been on board the aircraft. The number is: +622129850801.
AirAsia will release further information as soon as it becomes available. Updated information will also be posted on the AirAsia website, www.airasia.com.
Update 12:44 WIB: Indonesian Transport Ministry confirms Air Asia flight QZ8501 had enough fuel to fly for 4.5 hours.
Update 13:20 WIB: Indonesian media say flight QZ8501 may have crashed in the waters near Belitung Island. The Jakarta Post says the Airbus A320 is believed to have circled the sea near Belitung to avoid a storm before experiencing heavy turbulence and crashing into the ocean. The authorities are gathering information from fishing, commercial and private sea vessels in the immediate area.
Update 13:26 WIB: Monitoring service Weather Bug detected lightning strikes in the path of QZ8501 at 23:09 – 23:20 UTC (06:09 – 06:20 WIB) or around the time the plane dropped off radar.
Update 15:24 WIB : Families of Air Asia flight QZ8501 passengers upset over lack of information
Update 16:10 WIB: National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) says bad weather could hinder search for Air Asia flight QZ8501.
Update 17:27 WIB: Air Asia QZ8501 captain had more than 20,000 flying hours under his belt
Update 18:24 WIB: The sole Singaporean passenger on board QZ8501 is a two-year-old girl, according to Channel News Asia.
Update 18:39 WIB: Vice President Jusuf Kalla (JK) is leading the Basarnas (National Search and Rescue Agency) search for the missing airplane. JK finds eerie similarities betwee today’s events and an Adam Air plane crash in 2007 which killed everyone on board.
Update 19:14 WIB: Search operations for AirAsia QZ8501 suspended overnight, will restart tomorrow at 7AM
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