Missing AirAsia has 162 passengers on flight from Surabaya to Singapore

By David Khoirul

Sunday, December 28, 2014

AirAsia Q8501, one of the affordable planes in Indonesia, was missing during flight from Surabaya to Singapore on Sunday morning with 162 people on board. Inside the plane are one British, three Koreans, one Malaysian, one Singaporean, and seven AirAsia crew members.

Before it is lost, the plane was reported to have an unusual route. AisAsia confirmed that it would fully help rescue the missing plane.

"AirAsia Indonesia," the company said yesterday, "regrets to confirm that flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control at 7:24 this morning." AirAsia also said that for the time being they don’t have no further information regarding the status of the plane and passengers, but they will keep informing all the parties as soon as the they get new information.

AirAsia has built an Emergency Call Service for the family and passengers who are still alive by calling +622129850801. Basarnas, the National Search and Rescue Agency, admits that it is now coordinating with SAR offices in Tanjung Pinang, Riau Islands; Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan; Pangkalpinang, Bangka Belitung; Pontianak, West Kalimantan; and Lampung and Palembang, South Sumatra.

The last detected location of the plane, according to ATC official, was 03.09.15 South and 111.28.21 East. At 6:52 a.m. the aircraft was supposed to enter the Singaporean air and at about 8:30 local time was scheduled to arrive at Changi Airport.

The flight lost contact in an area located at 03.22.46 South and 108.50.07 East, according to a Basarnas Bangka Belitung official. “If we look at the map,” he said, “these coordinates refer to an area around 20 nautical miles from East Belitung.” Police and Indonesian Navy are involved in search for the missing plane.

Meanwhile, British government expressed condolence regarding the missing AirAsia and issued a statement by British Embassy on Sunday in the capital city of Jakarta.

The weather itself was terrible at that time. Today's weather is better than yesterday but colder in the capital city, which is close to Singapore.

Many family members of the passengers gathered at AirAsia Crisis Center at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya to find information on their missing relatives. Erna, one of passengers’ relatives, said she had four family members missing with the plane. “I hope to find information soon,” she said in tears. Erna always tuned into radio and television reports.

The Air Asia Crisis Center was surrounded by fear and sadness and desperation by the family memberes of the missing AirAsia passengers. Trikora Harjo, the Juanda general manager, said he would keep the family informed about the progress of the case when he gets new information.

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