Missing QZ8501: Plane Changed Course Before Losing Contact

AirAsia Flight QZ8501 carrying 162 people from Indonesia to Singapore went missing Sunday after the pilots requested to change course due to bad weather, the airline said.

 AirAsia QZ8501 Plane Missing

"AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24 (Surabaya LT) this morning," AirAsia said in a statement.

"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 while it was still under the control of the Indonesian Air Traffic Control," it added.

The six-year-old aircraft, an Airbus A320-200, left Juanda International Airport in Surabaya at 05:35 in the morning (local time) and was due to land at Singapore's Changi Airport at around 8:30 am Singapore time.

A total of 155 passengers were on board, with 138 adults, 16 children and 1 infant. The crew included 2 pilots, 4 flight attendants and 1 engineer.

The nationalities of the passengers and crew are as follows: 1 Singaporean, 1 Malaysian, 1 British, 1 French, 3 South Koreans and 156 Indonesians.

Search and rescue operations are now being conducted under the guidance of The Indonesia of Civil Aviation Authority.