Latest Statement From AirAsia Missing Aircraft QZ 8501
Eight months after the heartbreaking news of Malaysian Airlines MH370, another aircarft is still missing as of the moment. Owned by Malaysian Tycoon Tony Fernandez, one of their aircraft with flight number QZ 8501 lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control tower at around 6:17 local time (2317 (GMT). Air Asia one of the leading low-cost carier in world is still missing as of the moment. The aircraft is bound for Singapore from Indonesia.
According to the list of passengers given by Air Asia Indonesia, the aircraft was carrying a total of 161 confirmed passengers: 151 passengers, 1 pilot and 5 cabin crew, Most of the passengers were Indonesian nationals, 6 of the passengers were from a different countries. 3 Koreans, 1 Malaysian and 1 Singaporean, and 1 French. No Filipino passenger.
LATEST UPDATES:
Monday, 29 December:
2:44pm: Indonesia has accepted Singapore's offer to send two teams of specialists and two underwater locator beacon detectors to assist in locating the missing plane's black boxes, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) in a statement.
The four specialists from the Singapore Ministry of Transport’s Air Accident Investigation Bureau and their equipment are ready to be deployed, pending the Indonesian authorities’ activation, it added.
2:20pm: China has offered to send aircraft and ships to join the ongoing search for the missing plane, in a statement from Beijing's foreign ministry.
1:30pm: AirAsia Indonesia has said in a statement on its Facebook page that it continues to focus on the families related to the people on board the missing plane.
Source: Yahoo Singapore
Source: Yahoo Singapore
Below is the latest statement from AirAsia as posted in their official Facebook page:
"AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24 (Surabaya LT) this morning. The flightook off from Juanda International Airport in surabaya at 0535hours.
The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC. There were two pilots, four flight attendants and one engineer on board.
The captain in command had a total of 6,100 flying hours and the first officer a total of 2,275 flying hours.
There were 155 passengers on board, with 138 adults, 16 children and 1 infant. Also on board were 2 pilots and 5 cabin crew.
Nationalities of passengers and crew onboard are as below:
1 Singapore
1 Malaysia
1 France
3 South Korean
156 Indonesia
At this time, search and rescue operations are being conducted under the guidance of The Indonesia of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
AirAsia Indonesia is cooperating fully and assisting the investigation in every possible way."
The aircraft was on the submitted flight plan route and was requesting deviation due to enroute weather before communication with the aircraft was lost while it was still under the control of the Indonesian Air Traffic Control (ATC).
The aircraft had undergone its last scheduled maintenance on 16 November 2014.
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, www.airasia.com."
