An AirAsia plane has just gone missing. The airline has confirmed that it lost contact with Airbus 320-200, which had 155 passengers and seven crew members on board. Air traffic control lost communication roughly 42 minutes after takeoff.
According to Indonesia’s Transport Ministry, the aircraft requested traveling an alternate route before communication was lost. Officials believe that the plane deviated from its planned route and traveled over the Java Sea located between the Java Islands and Kalimantan. Search and rescue operations are already underway.
The airbus has been identified as Flight QZ8501. AirAsia said that the case is still ongoing and there is no further information for the public at this point, but it will keep the press updated as more information becomes available.
BREAKING: AirAsia plane with 162 on board reported missing on the way from Indonesia to Singapore.
— The Associated Press (@AP) December 28, 2014
The flight was scheduled to land in Singapore’s Changi Airport at 8:30 a.m. local time. AirAsia announced the flight’s disappearance on its Facebook page about three hours after the plane’s scheduled arrival time.
According to CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam, it’s possible that bad weather could have brought the plane down. The area was reported to be experiencing heavy thunderstorms and turbulence, though turbulence alone isn’t enough to cause a plane to go down.
For the public, the AirAsia plane going missing is disheartening and frightening. It was just earlier this year on March 8 that Malaysia Flight MH370 disappeared while traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Despite intense ocean searches and international cooperation, the plane still has not been found. The fate of the 239 passengers and crew members remain unknown. The disappearance fueled speculations over what may have happened. This included mechanical failure, terrorist hijacking, and even paranormal scenarios that included black holes and alien abductions.
With the missing AirAsia plane, frantic efforts are underway to determine what happened. Hopefully, this won’t be another MH370 where we never find out what happened and families are left in anguish.
[photo credit: Vectorkalkulus]
AirAsia Plane Missing, 162 People On Board
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