AirAsia passenger plane missing in Indonesia

Indonesian officials say an AirAsia passenger plane has lost contact with air traffic control after asking for an unusual route from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa said Sunday the aircraft belonging to a Malaysian low-cost carrier with flight number QZ8501 lost contact with Indonesia’s Surabaya airport 42 minutes after takeoff at 5:35 local time (22:35 GMT).

Mustofa added that the passenger plane went missing after it had asked for an out of the ordinary route over the Java Sea between Kalimantan and Java Islands.

J.A. Barata, a spokesman for the transport ministry, said the flight was carrying six crew members and 155 passengers, including 16 children and a baby.

AirAsia released a statement saying the plane was an Airbus A320-200 and that search and rescue operations have begun.

The flight was expected to arrive in Singapore at 08:30 local time (00:30 GMT).

Source-Press TV