Air Asia Plane Missing With 162 Onboard

[Stroker]

An AirAsia plane that departed Surabaya, Indonesia, for Singapore early Sunday has vanished from air traffic control.

Flight QZ 8501 was due to land at Singapore’s Changi Airport at 8.30 a.m. local time but lost contact in Indonesian airspace at around 7.10 a.m., reports the Straits Times.

 

http://time.com/3647835/airasia-qz-8501-162-missing-plane-surabaya-singapore/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20time%2Fworld%20%28TIME%3A%20Top%20World%20Stories%29

[pdogg]

 

BREAKING NEWS Saturday, December 27, 2014 11:47 PM EST Search-and-Rescue Operation Underway for AirAsia Flight From Indonesia, Airline Says Indonesian authorities were searching for an AirAsia aircraft on Sunday after air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane, the airline said. The plane, Flight QZ8501, left the Indonesian city of Surabaya with about 160 people onboard and was bound for Singapore, officials said. “At this time, search-and-rescue operations are in progress, and AirAsia is cooperating fully and assisting the rescue service,” the airline said in a statement. Air traffic control lost contact with the Airbus A320-200 at 7:24 Sunday morning, the airline said. AirAsia, which is based in Malaysia, is one of the world’s fastest-growing airlines and competes with Malaysia Airlines, which lost contact with MH 370 in March.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/28/world/asia/airasia-flight-indonesia-singapore.html

[pacman]

I've been following the story & it all appeared cut & dried until a recent update. Just prior to the plane going off the air, the pilot requested an "unusual route change".

 

I don't know the significance of this but it will lead to speculation of another hi-jacking....   just saying.....       

[Tomcat]

i think he asked for the route change due to the very bad weather across parts of the region.

 

No mayday call but communication is not priority i think in these situations as saving the plane i  more important -- not much Traffic control can do if the engine is iced up and your heading for Davey Jones Locker

[Torurot]

It's absurd with all the military & civilian radars across Asia, not to mention satellites and the vast amount of air traffic in the region that the tracks are not monitored more closely and accurately.

[zaronxas]

Just flew AirAsia today.  I know the chances of another crash are remote but was still a little disquieting.

 

Hope they sort out what happened and keep it from happening again.

 

Also, RIP to the victims -- saw that they've started recovering bodies.

[Lefty]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/28/world/asia/airasia-flight-indonesia-singapore.html

 

I guess they gotta say it that way, but when a plane goes missing at 32k feet, there is not much chance of anyone needing rescued. 

[pdogg]

 

In the latest in a string of incidents, an engine of an AirAsia aircraft with 120 passengers onboard cut out during taxiing before takeoff from Juanda International Airport in the Indonesian city of Surabaya, and passengers were forced to disembark.

 

The plane, scheduled to fly to Bandung, also on Java, at 9pm local time Saturday, was taxiing for a couple of minutes when suddenly one of its engines cut out with a loud noise, Indonesia's Metro TV reported.

 

“The plane was ready and moved, but suddenly a loud sound was heard, the sound of the engine disappeared and the plane moved backward. We were shocked and panicked. The plane was then pulled back to where it parked and we were asked by the stewardess to leave the plane,” passenger Yusuf Fitriadi was quoted as saying.

 

Some time later, a man in a pilot’s uniform came out to the passengers waiting at the terminal and told them that the plane’s starter monitor had malfunctioned.

 

Fitriadi told Metro TV that when the airline announced later that the flight would be resumed once the malfunction was repaired, some 90 percent of the passengers refused to get back on the plane.

 

Those passengers who declined to take the flight were refunded in full by the airline, the report said.

http://rt.com/news/219727-airasia-engine-incident-indonesia/