Background story
AirAsia has confirmed in a statement that air traffic control lost contact with flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore at 7:24am on Dec. 28.
The flight took off from the Juanda international airport at 5:20am and was supposed to arrive in Singapore at 8:30am.
The carrier, which at noon switched its Facebook profile and cover photos to greyscale (see top pic), says they have no further knowledge regarding the status of the passengers and crew members on board, but will keep all parties informed as it becomes available.
According to a partial manifest released by Indonesia’s transport ministry, there were seven members of crew on board flight QZ8501. Among the 155 passengers are 138 adults, 16 children and one infant.
Other reports reveal the flight is carrying at least one Singaporean.
Search and rescue operations are currently underway for the Airbus A320-200, with the registration number PK-AXC. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has already activated its Singapore Rescue Coordination Centre (SRCC), including the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN). Two C130s are already on stand-by.
A representative from Indonesia’s communications ministry Hadi Mostafa, said 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.”
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.
UPDATES:
DAY THREE:
3:15pm: Indonesian transport ministry confirms that plane debris spotted floating in Central Borneo waters is from lost AirAsia flight QZ8501 (via Coconuts Jakarta)
DAY TWO
3:15pm: According to an AP report, an Australian search aircraft has spotted “suspicious objects” in the sea, no confirmation as to whether it’s plane wreckage yet.
2:48pm: A Hwa Chong Institution teacher is on board missing flight QZ8501, The Straits Times reports.
2:15pm: The Star says AirAsia Indonesia wants to retire #QZ8501 flight code, but it will take time.
1pm: Indonesian authorities accept Singapore’s offer to dispatch two teams of specialists and two sets of underwater locator beacon detectors to locate the flight data recorders of the missing aircraft.
12:45pm: Latest AirAsia statement acknowledges international search and rescue mission in Surabaya.
12:10pm: An AFP reporter has described the atmosphere outside the holding room as “pretty muted”. Changi Airport spokesperson Ivan Tan was also speaking to media earlier today, reminding them not to generalise about the situation of the next-of-kin.
11:30am: An AFP report reveals Indonesia may not be able to retrieve the plane if it’s indeed at the bottom of the sea, due to a lack of “tools”.
DAY ONE
9:30pm: Airteamimages.com has released images of actual missing aircraft from 2012.
9pm: Changi Airport staff say families affected by missing QZ8501 have left the holding room — 16 members have taken up the offer to fly to Surabaya tonight.
7:30pm: Vice President Jusuf Kalla leads Basarnas search for Air Asia QZ8501, finds similarities to previous Adam Air plane crash. The Adam Air flight 574 disappeared after it took off from Surabaya, heading to Manado, North Sulawesi, on January 1, 2007. All 102 people on board died. Read more via this Coconuts Jakarta report.
7pm: Rescue and search efforts have been suspended for the night and will resume tomorrow at 7am.
6:27pm: Air Asia QZ8501 Captain had more than 20,000 flying hours under his belt. “Uncle Iriyanto was an Indonesian Air Force pilot who retired early. He flew the F-16 fighter jet,” said Doni, Iryanto’s nephew, as quoted by Detik today. Read more via this Coconuts Jakarta report.
5:10pm: National Search and Rescue Agency says bad weather could hinder search for Air Asia QZ8501. “Based on information we gathered from the BMKG (Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency), waves in the region could reach up to two meters in height, which could slow down our journey to the suspected crash site,” said Jhoni Supriadi, head of the Bangka Belitung Basarnas. Read more in this Coconuts Jakarta report.
4pm: Captain Irianto’s 22-year-old daughter Angela posted a touching message to her father on Path.
2:39pm: A video of the first press conference for the incident on Dec. 28, which revealed the chronological order of events leading to the official loss of contact with the AirAsia flight, can now be viewed on Astro Awani.
2:30pm: In his second Facebook post on the matter, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong confirmed that two RSAF C120s are on stand-by to help search for QZ8015.
2:23pm: Monitoring service Weather Bug detected lightning strikes near the path of QZ8501.
1:35pm: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong publicly addressed the missing airplane on Facebook for the first time.
1:30pm: Flightradar24.com released a map detailing the location of QZ8501 when contact was lost.
1:23pm: AirAsia has updated their statement with the breakdown of total passengers onboard missing flight QZ8501:
In addition to the earlier reported 155 passengers (138 adults, 16 children, one infant), there are also two pilots and one five cabin crew.
Out of those, 1 is Singaporean, 1 Malaysian, 1 French and 3 South Korean. The remaining 156 are Indonesian.
According to AirAsia, the captain in command had had a total of 6,100 flying hours, while the first officer had had 2,275.
1:19pm: Several reports, including this new one by CNN, reveal bad weather might have been a factor in the plane’s disappearance. There were heavy thunderstorms when QZ8501 was in the air, but meteorologist Derek Van Dam has reminded that turbulence doesn’t necessarily bring down airplanes. American officials including President Barack Obama have been briefed, and are monitoring the situation.
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