AirAsia flight from Indonesia to Singapore confirmed missing

RT News

AirAsia flight number QZ8501, bound from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, has lost contact with air traffic control, the airline has confirmed. The missing flight is an Airbus A320-200 with up to 161 people on board.

Indonesia air transport authorities have provided details of the plane’s last position.

“We are coordinating with the rescue team and looking for its position. We believe it is somewhere between Tanjung Pandan, a town on Belitung island, and Kalimantan,” Indonesia’s air transportation director-general Djoko Murjatmodjo stated, as cited by AFP.

Also, air force spokesman Marsma Hadi Tjahjanto confirmed that the Air Force was using the last point of contact to conduct an air search.

UPDATE: #AirAsia flight #QZ8501 from Indonesia to Singapore confirmed missing http://t.co/es1xzuD1zY pic.twitter.com/xHoEn7v842

— RT (@RT_com) December 28, 2014

AirAsia has stated that there were 162 passengers on board: 156 Indonesians, one Singaporean, one Malaysian, one French, and three South Koreans.

Passengers on board #QZ8501, confirms @AirAsia: 1 S'porean, 1 M'sian, 1 French, 3 South Korean and 156 Indonesian http://t.co/HfketXjvJW

— Channel NewsAsia (@ChannelNewsAsia) December 28, 2014

The flight was due to land in Singapore at 8:30 a.m. local time (00:30 GMT) and was listed as “delayed.”

Friends, relatives of passengers await news of #AirAsia #QZ8501 at Changi Airport http://t.co/KYBLF3Bl2j pic.twitter.com/vRf82ReDfC

— ST Foreign Desk (@STForeignDesk) December 28, 2014

AirAsia has confirmed the plane has gone missing in a statement.

AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact at 07:24hrs this morning http://t.co/WomRQuzcPO

— AirAsia (@AirAsia) December 28, 2014

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