AirAsia flight from Indonesia to Singapore loses contact, goes missing

SINGAPORE — An Indonesia AirAsia aircraft flight from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control this morning (Dec 28).

The budget airline flight, QZ8501, was scheduled to arrive at 8.30am in Singapore today. At 7.24am, the plane lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control. Half an hour later, the Singapore air traffic control was informed of this loss of contact by its Jakarta counterparts, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).

According to media reports, there were 162 passengers and crew on board, including one Singaporean. Nationalities of passengers and crew onboard are as follows: Singapore (1), Malaysia (1), France (1), South Korean (3), Indonesian (156). 

The aircraft was in the Indonesian flight information region (FIR) when contact was lost, and more than 200 nautical miles southeast of the Singapore-Jakarta FIR boundary, said the CAAS.

Search and rescue operations have been activated by the Indonesian authorities from the Pangkal Pinang Search and Rescue office, the authorities said.

The CAAS Singapore Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC), supported by various agencies including the Republic of Singapore Air Force and the Republic of Singapore Navy, has also been activated and has offered help to the Indonesian authorities. This includes two C130s are already on stand-by for this purpose, said the CAAS.

"We remain ready to provide any assistance to support the search and rescue effort. The CAAS and Changi Airport Group (CAG) Crisis Management Centres have already been activated. We are working with the airline’s crisis management team," said the CAAS. Changi Airport said a Relatives’ Holding Area (RHA) has been set up at Terminal 2 to provide assistance to next-of-kin of passengers on the flight.

In a Facebook post, AirAsia Indonesia has confirmed that flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control. The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200, said the airline, adding that it is cooperating fully and assisting the rescue service.