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AirAsia Airplane Reported Missing During Flight

 “A irAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact at 07:24hrs this morning”, according to this “tweet” from AirAsia several hours ago.

Within the past hour, the following was posted at the official Facebook Internet web site of AirAsia:

AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24hrs this morning.

At the present time we unfortunately have no further information regarding the status of the passengers and crew members on board, but we will keep all parties informed as more information becomes available.

The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC.

At this time, search and rescue operations are in progress and AirAsia is cooperating fully and assisting the rescue service.

AirAsia has established an Emergency Call Centre that is available for family or friends of those who may have been on board the aircraft. The number is: +622129850801.

AirAsia will release further information as soon as it becomes available. Updated information will also be posted on the AirAsia website, www.airasia.com.

Here is an update:

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. The flight took off from Juanda International Airport in Surabaya at 0535 hours.

The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC. There were two pilots, four flight attendants and one engineer on board.

The captain in command had a total of 6,100 flying hours and the first officer a total of 2,275 flying hours

There were 155 passengers on board, with 138 adults, 16 children and 1 infant. Also on board were 2 pilots and 5 cabin crew.

Nationalities of passengers and crew onboard are as below:

  • 1 Singapore
  • 1 Malaysia
  • 1 France
  • 3 South Korean
  • 156 Indonesia

 

At this time, search and rescue operations are being conducted under the guidance of The Indonesia of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). AirAsia Indonesia is cooperating fully and assisting the investigation in every possible way.

The aircraft was on the submitted flight plan route and was requesting deviation due to enroute weather before communication with the aircraft was lost while it was still under the control of the Indonesian Air Traffic Control (ATC).

The aircraft had undergone its last scheduled maintenance on 16 November 2014.

AirAsia has established an Emergency Call Centre that is available for family or friends of those who may have been on board the aircraft. The number is: +622129850801.

AirAsia will release further information as soon as it becomes available. Updated information will also be posted on the AirAsia website, www.airasia.com.

Coincidentally, AirAsia is based in Malaysia, as is Malaysia Airlines, which lost two airplanes earlier this year:

 

Air traffic controllers supposedly lost contact with the aircraft while it was flying over the Java Sea slightly less than an hour before it was scheduled to land at its destination.

I hope that all occupants aboard the airplane survive this incident. My thoughts are with all of them…

  1. Is your job simply to regurgitate news stories published across the media? Your postings really add no insight at all and look like a desperate attempt to become a travel blogger.

    1. Other idiots like Points, Miles & Martinis and Economy Class & Beyond previously published this “breaking news.”

      I would positively like to see some original travel content on this damn site!

  2. Jim, calling other people “idiots” isn’t nice either. You’re probably a nice guy but it isn’t coming through on your posts. πŸ™ My mother used to say, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all.

      1. Actually, Whiskarina, I look at what Jim wrote differently β€” and he is correct, I must admit.

        There is a reason why Jim posted what he did here at The Gate when he could have easily posted his comment elsewhere. Correct me if I am wrong, Jim, but you expect more from me.

        I have a number of trip reports which I have yet to complete β€” especially from my unintentional trip around the world. Not that this is an excuse, because I want to post a lot of trip reports β€” but they are incredibly time-consuming; and I do not just want to post one just for the sake of posting one.

        First comes reviewing the hundreds of photographs and choosing which ones should be included in the trip report. Then comes the cropping and β€” if necessary β€” minor adjustments of the photographs. Then they have to be imported into WordPress and placed in the correct order; and I usually like to include captions with them. The trip report then has to be written. Facts need to be checked. I try to proofread what I write at least twice; and yet errors still seem to sneak through.

        Until this past August, The Gate originally concentrated solely on content posted on FlyerTalk. I would like The Gate to be a hybrid of miles and points with trip reports mixed in, while still posting links to content posted at such Internet web sites as FlyerTalk and Milepoint.

        Because The Gate relies solely on views for revenue β€” there has never been a credit card affiliate link posted at The Gate throughout its history of 8.5 years; and I have no official partners or alliances with any travel company β€” I try to post what interests readers the most. I review analytical information to see what is being read the most and try to provide more content pertaining to what was popular in the future.

        Although I attempt to differentiate content from other weblogs, I was working on the AirAsia Indonesia story when it was first breaking β€” before other versions were posted at other weblogs. I personally do not like posting the same content as a dozen other weblogs simultaneously; but that can be difficult to avoid at times.

        I welcome criticism β€” though I prefer that of the constructive type β€” so thank you for your comments, Jim, as you were somewhat reading my mind and posted just as I was working on a still-unfinished trip report…

        …and thank you, Whiskarina. I appreciate your comments…

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