An aircraft of the Air Asia airline disappears between Indonesia and Singapore

Airbus A320-200 of the Malaysian low-cost airline, Air Asia, making the connection between the Indonesian city of Surabaya and Singapore aa disappeared, Sunday, Dec. 28, reports the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation.

A spokesman for the ministry said that contact was lost with the flight QZ 8501 à 7:24 local. He left Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, on the Indonesian island of Java, at 5 am 20 and was scheduled to land at Singapore Changi Airport at 8: 30 pm.

WEATHER

"The plane had asked to deviate because of the weather," the company said in a message on his Facebook account. "Communication with the aircraft was lost while he was still under the control of the Indonesian authorities Air Traffic (ATC)," said Air Asia. The plane was flying at 32,000 feet (9,753 meters) and have requested the ability to climb 38,000 feet (11,582 meters) to avoid a cloud mass.

The authorities indicate that they lost contact with the plane between the Port of Tanjung Pandan and Pontianak, a city in West Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. The Jakarta Post says that the device could have crashed into the sea (03 ° S 108 ° 22'46 50'07 E) to about 145 kiomètres the Indonesian island of Belitung, located off the eastern coast of Sumatra in the Java Sea.
The QZ8501 flight could have crashed into the sea about 145 kilometers from the Indonesian island of Belitung, located off the eastern coast of Sumatra, in the Java Sea.

RESCUE OPERATIONS

The plane carrying 162 people the company says on its Facebook page: seven crew members and 155 passengers, including 16 children and an infant. The plane carried 156 Indonesians, 1 Singaporean, Malaysian 1, 1 French, 3 South Koreans.

The company Air Asia said operations are underway to locate the aircraft. "Right now, we have unfortunately no other information on the situation of passengers and crew on board", said its leaders.

Malaysia indicated its readiness to provide assistance in the search operations.
Relatives of passengers on the flight to QZ8501 Juanada International Airport, Indonesia.

BLACK YEAR

2014 will remain a black year for the Malaysian aviation with the loss of two aircraft of the National Malaysia Airlines. On March 8, the flight MH370 disappeared shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board. His disappearance remains unexplained to this day.

On July 17, another device, ensuring the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur, exploded in flight, presumably shot down by a missile during its flight over eastern Ukraine. It was carrying 298 people, including 193 Dutch nationals.

Indonesia, an archipelago that rely heavily on air transport for links between its 17,000 islands, it appears on one of the worst in Asia in aviation safety.