oped:This makes like 3 Indonesia airlines with missing planes in the same area the last 6 months or so...a little fishy if ya ask me!
By Yahoo! Singapore
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR:
- AirAsia flight QZ8501 bound for Singapore from Surabaya,
Indonesia and carrying 162 people on board went missing Sunday morning.- Contact with the plane was lost around an hour after departure, somewhere over the Java Sea between Belitung island and Pontianak, on Indonesia's part of Kalimantan island.
- Search and rescue operations have been launched with the Indonesian army as well as Singapore and Malaysia scouring the area around Belitung.
Indonesia air traffic control
lost contact with AirAsia flight QZ8501 bound for Singapore from the
Indonesian city of Surabaya on Sunday morning.
Search and rescue operations have begun, AirAsia Indonesia said on its Facebook page.
The carrier also released a statement listing 162 people on board,
with 138 adults, 16 children and one infant making up 155 passengers
along with seven crew members (two pilots, four flight attendants and
one engineer).The nationalities of the passengers and crew onboard include one Singaporean, one Malaysian, one French, three South Koreans and 156 Indonesians. See the full manifest here.
However, a British national was also reportedly confirmed by the Britsh Foreign Office to have been on the missing flight.
"We have been informed by the
local authorities that one British national was on board. Their next of
kin has been informed, and we stand ready to provide consular
assistance,” a spokesperson reportedly said.
In a statement late Sunday afternoon, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said that the next-of-kin of the Singaporean on board missing Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501 were contacted and were at the Changi Airport Relatives Holding Area (RHA).
In a statement late Sunday afternoon, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said that the next-of-kin of the Singaporean on board missing Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501 were contacted and were at the Changi Airport Relatives Holding Area (RHA).
"They are being provided with all necessary assistance and support,"
CAAS said. "Assistance and support are likewise being provided to the
relatives and friends of affected passengers who are at the RHA."
QZ8501 lost contact with
Indonesian air traffic control at 7:55am local time, 42 minutes after
departure and an hour before it was scheduled to land in Singapore.
Reuters reports
that the aircraft was between the Indonesian port of Tanjung Pandan and
the town of Pontianak, in West Kalimantan on Borneo island, when it
went missing.
Map locating the scheduled flight AirAsia QZ8501, which went missing on Sunday morning
The plane was on the submitted flight plan route and flying at 32,000 feet, before it asked to fly at 38,000 feet to avoid clouds.
The captain in command had a total of 6,100 flying hours and the first officer a total of 2,275 flying hours, said AirAsia, adding that the jet underwent its last scheduled maintenance on 16 November 2014.
Indonesia has accepted Singapore’s offer to assist in search efforts for the missing aircraft, and the Republic of Singapore Air Force has launched one C130 for now.
In a Facebook post, Singapore Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said, "We offered our planes and ships to BASARNAS, the Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency, at 0930 hours local time, to assist in the search and one RSAF C130 has been launched this afternoon after we received confirmation from the Indonesian authorities to assist in the search."
In a Facebook post, Singapore Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew said, "We offered our planes and ships to BASARNAS, the Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency, at 0930 hours local time, to assist in the search and one RSAF C130 has been launched this afternoon after we received confirmation from the Indonesian authorities to assist in the search."
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also commented on the situation on both Facebook and Twitter.
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 at www.airasia.com.
Singapore's Changi Airport has also set up a Relatives’ Holding Area (RHA) at Terminal 2 Arrival Hall to provide assistance to next-of-kin (NOK) of passengers onboard the flight.
According to Airbus, the missing A320-200 is a twin-engine single-aisle aircraft seating up to 180 passengers in a single-class configuration.
It was registered as PK-AXC and was delivered to AirAsia from the production line in October 2008. Powered by CFM 56-5B engines, it had accumulated approximately 23,000 flight hours in some 13,600 flights.
Airbus said it would provide full assistance to the French safety investigation authority and to the authorities in charge of the investigation.
(Correction: This article initially identified the aircraft as an A380. It is an A320.)
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