JAKARTA: An AirAsia flight QZ-8501 for Singapore with reportedly 162 passengers on board lost contact with control tower at 07:24hrs (local time) this morning, spokesperson confirmed on Sunday.
Airbus 320-200 from the Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control on Sunday, AirAsia confirmed the regretful report.
The plane left Juanda International Airport at 5:27 a.m. Sunday (5:27 p.m. Saturday ET) and was due to arrive in Singapore at 8:37 a.m. Sunday (7:37 p.m. ET), according to the website.
A transport ministry official Hadi Mustofa told Reuters that the aircraft QZ-8501 had asked for an unusual route before it lost contact with the Jakarta air traffic control tower at 6:17 a.m local time. (6.17 p.m. EST) which was due to be landed at 08:30Â in Singapore.
According to AirAsia’s official Twitter account, the aircraft had had 155 passengers and crew on board. On the other hand, the Singapore airport said on its website that the status of the flight was “delayed”.
AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact at 07:24hrs this morning http://t.co/WomRQuzcPO
â AirAsia (@AirAsia) December 28, 2014
AirAsia released official statement, ‘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.
The plane left Juanda International Airport at 5:27 a.m. Sunday (5:27 p.m. Saturday ET) and was due to arrive in Singapore at 8:37 a.m. Sunday (7:37 p.m. ET), according to the website.
CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam claimed that bad weather might have been a factor in the plane’s disappearance. He said, ‘We still had lines of very heavy thunderstorms’ when the plane was flying. He futher clarified that ‘turbulence doesn’t necessarily bring down airplanes.’
Search and rescue operations have been started while the airline released its emergency no: +622129850801.
According to unofficial reports, the passengers include 149 Indonesian, 3 Korean, one Singapore and one British including 17 children on the plane on board.
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