AirAsia jet with 162 on board goes missing on way to Singapore

 

(CNN) — The search is on for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that lost contact with air traffic control in Indonesia on Sunday.

Before communication was lost, AirAsia Flight 8501 asked to deviate from its planned flight route — from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore — because of weather conditions, AirAsia said in a statement.

Flight 8501 went missing at 7:24 a.m. Sunday (7:24 p.m. Saturday ET) as it flew over the Java Sea.

“At this time, search and rescue operations are being conducted under the guidance of the Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority,” AirAsia said.

Of the people on board the Airbus A320-200, 156 are Indonesian, three are South Korean, one is French, one is Malaysian and one is Singaporean, the airline said. It had earlier said 157 of those on the plane are Indonesian.

“The aircraft was on the submitted flight plan route and was requesting deviation due to en route weather before communication with the aircraft was lost,” AirAsia said.

Bad weather was in evidence in the region at the time, CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam said.

Sourace:  http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/asia/airasia-missing-plane/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

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AirAsia jet with 162 on board goes missing on way to Singapore