UPDATE: *SINGAPORE AVIATION: SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS ACTIVATED
An Air Asia Indonesia flight from Surabaya in east Java to Singapore carrying 155 passengers has gone missing, Air Asia has confirmed. As Bloomberg reported, the flight departed Surabaya at 5:20am local time and lost contact soon after... Contact was lost at 6:17 a.m. local time (23:17 GMT on Saturday), after the crew asked for an “unusual route.” The latest discussions are that the loss of contact could be weather-related.
AirAsia flight number QZ8501, bound from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, has lost contact with air traffic control, the airline has confirmed. The missing flight is an Airbus A320-200 with 155 people on board, Reuters reports.
The plane lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control on Sunday, Indonesian media said, citing Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa.
Mustofa said the contact was lost at 6:17 a.m. local time (23:17 GMT on Saturday), after the crew asked for an “unusual route.”
According to an unnamed Indonesian transport official, there are 155 passengers and crew aboard the plane.
The flight was due to land in Singapore at 8:30 a.m. local time (00:30 GMT) and was listed as “delayed.”
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The missing flight's path before losing contact..
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and while previous flight paths show fading coverage, it would have been picked up again by now...
Look at previous #QZ8501 [7] flights shows @flightradar24 [8] has weak coverage in area, but would have been picked up again. pic.twitter.com/PUW8Ppa5X8 [9]
— Jason Rabinowitz (@AirlineFlyer) December 28, 2014 [10]
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Air Asia has confirmed via the following statement...
JUST IN: @AirAsia [11] confirms flight #QZ8501 [7] from Indonesia to Singapore missing http://t.co/nEXr2knsUR [12] pic.twitter.com/vVzQoGsKw5 [13]
— Channel NewsAsia (@ChannelNewsAsia) December 28, 2014 [14]
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MISSING PLANE AIR ASIA #QZ8501 [7]: - 6 crew members - 138 adults - 16 children - 1 baby - 3 Koreans - 1 Singaporean - 1 Briton - 1 Malaysian
— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) December 28, 2014 [15]
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The latest thoughts are that the disappearance could be weather-related...
Satellite image around time #AirAsia [16] flight went missing, very vigorous thunderstorms (black) north of Surabaya pic.twitter.com/w8jSzfzvmi [17]
— James Reynolds (@EarthUncutTV) December 28, 2014 [18]
There have been 85 large aircraft disappearances since 1948...
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