Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501

An AirAsia flight with over 160 people on board travelling to Singapore from the Indonesian city of Surabaya went missing after losing contact with air traffic control, the company said on Sunday. A search mission is underway.

Sunday, December 28
14:06 GMT:
Chi Man Choi, a British passenger and his two year old daughter, from Hull in Yorkshire, are among the missing on the vanished air Asia flight. Two other members of his family are believed to have boarded an earlier flight.

12:52 GMT:
What we know of the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501:

– The plane was on its way from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, when it lost contact with air traffic control early on Sunday morning

– It went missing near Indonesian Belitung Island in the Java Sea

– Before disappearing from radars, the plane requested deviation due to bad weather. The aircraft was flying at 32,000 feet and had asked to go to 38,000 feet

– There were 162 people on board: 155 passengers and 7 crew members. Most of the people on the missing flight – 155 – were Indonesians. There were also 3 South Koreans, 1 Malaysian, 1 Singaporean, 1 Briton and 1 Frenchman

– Indonesia is being assisted by Singapore, Malaysia and Australia in conducting the search and rescue operation, which has been halted for the night and will resume at 06:00 in the morning.

– The missing aircraft is an A320-200. It was delivered to AirAsia, Malaysian budget airline, in October 2008 and had since carried out 13,600 flights. AirAsia had never had a fatal accident in its 20-year-long history.

11:42 GMT:
The search for the AirAsia plane has been suspended for the night and will be resumed tomorrow, Indonesian officials say.

11:40 GMT:
AirAsia Indonesia has updated information on the nationality of passengers and crew of the missing plane, adding a UK citizen to the list and confirming a Frenchman was part of the crew. AirAsia estimates there were 162 people on board, despite the transport ministry having said earlier there were 161.

11:10 GMT:
Flight QZ5801 dispatch information has been made public. It shows the plane took off with 8,296 kg of fuel, substantially more than the planned consumption for the flight – 5211 kg.

10:22 GMT:
Singapore, Malaysia and Australia have offered Indonesia help in the search for missing flight QZ8501. Malaysia is sending vessels and a C130 aircraft while Singapore is also sending a C130, officials said, as cited by Reuters.

10:01 GMT:
No wreckage of flight QZ5801 has been found, an Indonesian Navy official told the BBC. He added weather conditions were poor in the search area.

09:58 GMT:
A British national was on board missing AirAsia flight QZ8501, according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

“We have been informed by the local authorities that one British national was on board. Their next of kin has been informed, and we stand ready to provide consular assistance,” an FCO official said.

members of passengers of missing Malaysian air carrier AirAsia flight QZ8501 gather at Juanda international airport in Surabaya in East Java on December 28, 2014 hours after the news the flight went missing. (AFP Photo / Juni Kriswanto)members of passengers of missing Malaysian air carrier AirAsia flight QZ8501 gather at Juanda international airport in Surabaya in East Java on December 28, 2014 hours after the news the flight went missing. (AFP Photo / Juni Kriswanto)
09:44 GMT:
Malaysia Airlines, which lost two of its Boeing jumbo jets earlier this year, empathizes with AirAsia.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all family and friends of those on board QZ8501,” Malaysia airlines said on Twitter.

09:30 GMT:
The missing aircraft, an A320-200, was delivered to AirAsia in October 2008 and had since “accumulated approximately 23,000 flight hours during some 13,600 flights,” says an official statement by Airbus. The company has promised to assist in the investigation of the plane’s disappearance.