Air Asia Flight QZ 8501 Missing

[Harry T]

Let's hope and pray that all can be found safe and well.

An AirAsia flight carrying 162 people from Indonesia to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic controllers.

Indonesian Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa said flight QZ 8501 lost contact with the Jakarta air traffic control tower at 7.24am local time.

He said the plane had asked for an unusual route before contact was lost with Indonesia's Juanda International Airport in Surabaya.

The flight was expected to arrive in Singapore at 8.30am.

Officials confirmed the plane had seven crew and 155 passengers on board.

Local media reported there were 149 Indonesians, three Koreans, one Singaporean, one Briton and one Malaysian national on the plane.

Transport Ministry spokesman JA Barata said the passengers included 138 adults, 16 children and one infant.

According to air traffic control website Flight Radar, the aircraft was travelling at 32,000 ft over the Java Sea when contact was lost.

A statement on Malaysia based AirAsia's Facebook page said: "AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that flight QZ 8501 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".

Link Here:

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/...ore/ar-BBhhkQN

It's been a pretty poor year for Airlines from Asia in 2014. Let's all hope this is just a temporary loss. I don't often pray but I fear the worst.

[Terpe]

Harry, could you please add the link to this news item

[Harry T]

Hiya Terpe, have added to the post, and also here is the Link:

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/...ore/ar-BBhhkQN

And the Air Asia FB Link:

https://www.facebook.com/AirAsia?........

[Terpe]

Hiya Terpe, have added to the post, and also here is the Link

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/...ore/ar-BBhhkQN

and the Air Asia Fb Link

https://www.facebook.com/AirAsia?........

Thanks very much Harry.

[Michael Parnham]

Unusual route? Hope we're not going hear the worst again!

[Terpe]

Unusual route? Hope we're not going hear the worst again!

Like Harry, I don't feel any positive outcome

[tiger31]

We seem to be losing too many planes lately. I hope this is not going to be an upward trend.

[Terpe]

FAST FACTS: AirAsia

An AirAsia plane carrying 162 people on board disappeared Sunday morning, December 28.

Based on reports, air traffic controllers lost contact with AirAsia flight QZ8501 while it was in Indonesian air space at around 7:24 am.

In its statement, AirAsia said the missing jet last went through maintenance on November 16, 2014. In addition, the Airbus A320 plane, with registration number PK-AXC, first took to the skies in September 2008, according to the website airfleets.net.

If confirmed to be a plane crash, it would be a first in AirAsia's history.

According to the Aviation Safety Network database, AirAsia has no major accident or plane crash on record, up until the disappearance of flight QZ8501 Sunday.

The database has only one incident for AirAsia so far: a runway excursion by AirAsia flight AK5218 shortly after landing amid heavy rains at the Kuching Airport in Malaysia on January 10, 2011. All 123 passengers and 6 crew members were safe.

Recently, on July 7, 2014, AirAsia flight AK278 also skidded off the runway, after safely landing at Brunei’s Bandar Seri Begawan International Airport. All 102 passengers and 7 crew members on board disembarked safely, reported Malaysia's The Star Online, quoting AirAsia.

The pioneer "no-frills" low-cost airline was founded in Malaysia in 1993, and was originally owned by Malaysian conglomerate DBR-Hicom.

In 2001, the airline, which was then operating at a loss, was acquired by businessmen Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin bin Meranun. Fernandes now serves as the group chief executive officer (CEO) of the AirAsia Berhad, while bin Meranun is the company's executive chairman.

Its fleet of Airbus A320 and A330 planes now fly to over 88 destinations across Asia and Australia, according to AirAsia's website.

AirAsia has won the "World’s Best Low-Cost Airline" award of British airline review and ranking site Skytrax 7 times, in 2007 and since 2009

Source

[fred]

Just had a look on the live radar site.

Status "Unknown".

2014-12-28

Surabaya (SUB)

Singapore (SIN)

A320 (PK-AXC)

05:20 AM WIB

05:35 AM

08:30 AM SGT

Unknown

http://www.flightradar24.com/TGW2288/5249365


Unimaginably sad for relatives waiting at Changi airport.

[fred]

Last tracked at only an altitude of 750 ft..

[fred]

AirAsia plane downed in
Belitung waters: Reports

AirAsia flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore is believed to have crashed at the location 03.22.46 South and 108.50.07 East, in waters around 80-100 nautical miles from Belitung, a National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) official has said.
Basarnas Pangkalpinang spokesperson Supriandi said, as reported by Antara news agency on Sunday, that it had dispatched a rescue team to Belitung.
It is believed that the Airbus A320 had circled over the sea near Belitung to avoid a storm before it experienced severe turbulence and crashed into the ocean. QZ8501 is reported to have had 155 passengers on board, 16 of which were children.
- See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2....byc1kYtV.dpuf

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/12/28/airasia-plane-downed-belitung-waters-reports.html

[KeithD]

Going down from 38,000ft in rough seas does not usually have a good outlook.

Hopefully the new ping system supplied free by the UK was activated so they know exactly where it went down.

[stevewool]

I was looking at AirAsia flights yesterday, it has put me off a little, Ems says don't book with them now

[Michael Parnham]

I was looking at AirAsia flights yesterday, it has put me off a little, Ems says don't book with them now

Excellent airline, I would use them!

[grahamw48]

Very sad news.

I believe AirAsia 'Philippines' is run by different management than AirAsia 'Indonesia' (and Thai).

http://www.airasia.com/my/en/about-u...structure.page

[raynaputi]

Very sad news.

I believe AirAsia 'Philippines' is run by different management than AirAsia 'Indonesia' (and Thai).

http://www.airasia.com/my/en/about-u...structure.page

AirAsia Philippines is an affiliate of AirAsia Inc. The chairman and CEO of AirAsia Philippines are all Filipinos.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines_AirAsia

[Steve.r]

I have used AirAsia Zest several times for short flights to and from China. They are a good budget airline, clean and efficient.

But from watching CNN, I think this is a freak weather accident, but it's only speculation at this point.

[Ako Si Jamie]

Not a good year for aviation, especially for SE Asia.

[Michael Parnham]

Not a good year for aviation, especially for SE Asia.

That's true, but still the safest form of travel!

[tone]

I had in excess of 100 flights on air Asia and apart from delays they are ok.
They must fly in excess of 1,000 flights a day around Asia and one going down - most likely due to bad weather - is not going to change my use of them in the future.

That aside, imagine the horrible situation for the families of those travelling and waiting for news - my thoughts and prayers are with them.

[joebloggs]

No Filipino on missing AirAsia flight - CAAP

MANILA - The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) confirmed that there were no Filipinos listed on the AirAsia flight that has gone missing on Sunday morning.

In a statement, CAAP also said A320-200 flight QZ8501 did not pass through the Philippines’ flight information region (FIR).

“According to the CAAP operation rescue and coordinating center, the flight path of the said flight is far away from Philippine FIR and no record of such pass thru the Philippine air space today,” the agency said.

Read more here ...

http://www.abscbnnews.com/nation/12/...ia-flight-caap

[Rosie1958]

A British businessman and his two-year-old daughter are thought to be among 162 people missing on a plane in South East Asia.

Hull-born Chi Man Choi and his daughter Zoe are understood to be on board the Air Asia flight which vanished while on a two-hour flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

His Singaporean wife and their other child had travelled back to Singapore on an earlier flight, according to Channel News Asia.

Source ..........

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/news...t_to_singapore

[Ako Si Jamie]

They're saying the plane might have been flying too slowly causing it to stall.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/liv...at-first-light

[fred]

AirAsia QZ8501 likely to be on sea floor, says rescue official – rolling report

http://www.theguardian.com/world/liv...at-first-light



No wreckage found yet?
Again?

[Terpe]

......
No wreckage found yet?
Again?

That's what puzzled me too

[Ako Si Jamie]

Just heard on the radio that the plane couldn't avoid the storm because of too much traffic.

I don't understand either why no wreckage hasn't been found. A plane just doesn't dive to the bottom of the ocean still intact. Has the Bermuda Triangle moved?

Peculiar stuff going on in that part of the world.

[fred]

The Aussies say they have seen some suspicious stuff floating around.

Why the hell dont they put some kind of marine emergency receiver on the plane that either floats or produces an audible sound to a base unit held by the airline?
I`m sure they have those things on expensive sea going vessels etc.

[KeithD]

The Java Sea is only 100-200ft deep, about the same as the North Sea, so detecting the emergency beacon should not be a problem once they have the technology in place to pick it up.

The seas had something like 3m waves on the day of the crash so any debris will likely be widely scattered, especially if the plane broke up.

It does sound like pilot error though. Due to the storm and no horizon, the human brain is easily confused. This is what happened with the Air France crash. Once in a stall in those conditions it is difficult to get out of.

Strangely, a glass of water would tell them where the true horizon was, but they rely on expensive computer information that can go AWOL if the outside tubes get blocked by ice.

[joebloggs]

Strangely, a glass of water would tell them where the true horizon was, but they rely on expensive computer information that can go AWOL if the outside tubes get blocked by ice.

Reminds me of the the time and money the Americans wasted trying to make a pen that would write in space, but costs got so high they went back to using pencils like the Russians

[Michael Parnham]

The Java Sea is only 100-200ft deep, about the same as the North Sea, so detecting the emergency beacon should not be a problem once they have the technology in place to pick it up.

The seas had something like 3m waves on the day of the crash so any debris will likely be widely scattered, especially if the plane broke up.

It does sound like pilot error though. Due to the storm and no horizon, the human brain is easily confused. This is what happened with the Air France crash. Once in a stall in those conditions it is difficult to get out of.

Strangely, a glass of water would tell them where the true horizon was, but they rely on expensive computer information that can go AWOL if the outside tubes get blocked by ice.

Why not just fit a spirit level?