Planes and helicopters searching for an AirAsia plane that went missing with 162 people on board on Sunday morning have arrived at waters where the plane was believed to have lost, an official of the transport ministry said.

But so far they have not found any signs that the plane had crashed in the surrounding waters, Director General of Air Transport of Indonesian Transport Ministry Djoko Murjatmodjo told a press conference at the main airport in Jakarta.

Australia, Britain, Singapore, South Korea, and Malaysia have offered assistance to find the missing plane, the official said.

Besides, China also offered one plane to help the search operation, said Bambang Sulistyo, head of national search and rescue agency.

The search operation would also be carried out on land around the scene where the plane lost contact, involving army, said Murjatmodjo.

Flight QZ8501 lost contact with the ground after air traffic control consent to the pilot's request to change flight route but it did not approve the request to increase its height to 34,000 feet, said Murjatmodjo.

There were 155 passengers and seven crew members on board the plane, including 16 children and an infant.

The captain in command had a total of 6,100 flying hours and the co-pilot a total of 2,275 flying hours, according to AirAsia.

The passengers and crew members include one Singaporean, one Malaysian, one French, three South Koreans and 156 Indonesians.

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)