AirAsia plane goes missing, presumably crashes into sea

AirAsia plane goes missing, presumably crashes into sea

PanARMENIAN.Net - A missing AirAsia plane carrying 162 people is presumed to have crashed off the Indonesian coast, an official said on Monday, as countries in the region offered to help Jakarta in the search and recovery effort, Reuters reported.

The Indonesia AirAsia plane, an Airbus A320-200, disappeared after its pilot failed to get permission to alter course to avoid bad weather during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore on Sunday. Flight QZ8501 did not issue a distress signal and disappeared over the Java Sea five minutes after requesting a change of course.

"Based on our coordinates, we predict that the plane is on the sea, for now it could be in the bottom of the sea," Soelistyo, head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, told reporters when asked about the missing plane's likely location.

With Indonesia AirAsia 49 percent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia, the incident caps a disastrous year for Malaysia-affiliated airlines. Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew and has not been found. On July 17, the same airline's Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

Indonesian Air Force spokesman Hadi Thahjanto said two C-130 Hercules planes were focusing the search for Flight QZ8501 in areas northeast of Indonesia's Bangka island, which lies roughly halfway between Surabaya and Singapore, in the Java Sea.

Singapore said it had sent two naval vessels to help while Malaysia said it would send three naval vessels and a C-130. An Australian P3 Orion surveillance plane left Darwin to join the search, the Australian Defense Department said, according to Reuters.

The United States, Britain, South Korea and India also offered help.

"We have been coordinating with parties from Singapore, Malaysia and Australia who have (expressed) a willingness to assist," Tataog Zainuddin, director of operations at the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency, told Reuters.

Onboard Flight QZ8501 were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one person each from Singapore, Malaysia and Britain, while the co-pilot was French.

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