Air Asia flight bound for Singapore lost contact with air traffic: Report
An AirAsia plane travelling from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control on Sunday morning.
QZ 8501 has 155 passengers and crew on board, including one Singaporean, one British, one Malaysian, three Koreans and 149 Indonesians, according to Indonesia's Transport Ministry.
"AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24 hrs this morning,'' said an airline statement.
"At the present time, we unfortunately have no further information regarding the status of the passengers and crew members on board.
"Search and rescue operations are in progress and AirAsia is cooperating fully and assisting the rescue service,'' said the airline.
The Airbus 320-20 took off from Surabaya at 5.20 am local time on Sunday and was scheduled to land at Changi Airport at 8.30 am, according to Metro TV.
Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa told Metro TV that the plane lost contact somewhere between Kalimantan and Belitung island.
Mr Tatang Zainudin of Indonesia's national search and rescue agency told MetroTV that the pilot might have faced extreme weather condition.
The Straits Times understands that Singapore's RSAF will be dispatching a c130 to look for the missing plane.
AirAsia has established an Emergency Call Centre for family or friends of those who may have been on board the flight. The number is +622 129850801
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