AirAsia airliner missing, search suspended for night
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E-mail Xinhua, December 29, 2014
An AirAsia passenger plane with 162 people aboard disappeared Sunday morning en route from Indonesia to Singapore, and no traces of its whereabouts had been found before aerial search was suspended for the night.
Speaking at a televised press conference in the evening, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that the Airbus A320-200 jet might have crashed, but "we haven't got any information that indicates where."
The ill-fated aircraft was operated by AirAsia Indonesia, a unit of Malaysia-based leading regional budget carrier AirAsia. Airbus said it was delivered to AirAsia in October 2008, and AirAsia said it underwent its last scheduled maintenance on Nov. 16.
"We have no idea at the moment what went wrong," AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes told a press conference after flying to Surabaya, where the missing Flight QZ8501 originated. "Let's not speculate at the moment."
The jetliner, carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members, lost contact with ground control about 42 minutes after its takeoff at 5:35 a.m. local time (2235 GMT Saturday). It is scheduled to land in Singapore at 8:30 a.m. local time (0030 GMT).
AirAsia said the plane, which was on the submitted flight plan route, had requested to turn left and climb to 10,360 meters to avoid clouds before it disappeared from radar.
The misfortune came at the end of a disastrous year for Malaysia's aviation industry. Malaysia Airlines, the country's flag carrier, lost a Boeing 777 with 239 people aboard on March 8, and the whereabouts of the vanished Flight MH370 remains a mystery despite massive search efforts.
On July 17, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, also a Boeing 777, went down in war-torn eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 aboard. Investigators concluded that it was hit by "high-energy objects from outside the aircraft."
AIR SEARCH SUSPENDED DUE TO NIGHTFALL
In Jakarta, Indonesia's search and rescue agency said the airborne search for the missing jet was suspended due to nightfall and will resume Monday morning.
Aircraft involved in the search and rescue mission returned to base Sunday evening, but some ships were still in the area where the plane was believed to have disappeared, said the agency.
Earlier in the day, Djoko Murjatmodjo, director general of Air Transport of the Indonesian Transport Ministry, said planes and helicopters searching for the AirAsia jetliner had not found any signs that would indicate that it had crashed in the surrounding waters.
Australia, Britain, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia had offered assistance, he added.
Besides, China also offered one plane to help with the search operation, said Bambang Sulistyo, head of the search and rescue agency.
Meanwhile, AirAsia Indonesia issued a correction on the nationalities of the passengers and crew on board the plane.
The revised passenger list consists of one Singaporean, one Malaysian, three South Koreans, one Briton and 149 Indonesians. The crew comprise one French and six Indonesians. An earlier release showed that there were 156 Indonesians and no Britons.
At Singapore's Changi airport, people started to show up around noon at a specially designated waiting area for families and friends of Flight QZ8501 passengers.
At about 4:00 p.m. (0800 GMT), 10 people were seen being escorted into the waiting area, which was closed to the media. One of them, who declined to be named, said she had four relatives on board the flight, including a 12-year-old and a 17-year-old.
INT'L COMMUNITY PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION
Hours after the incident, Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said her country is deeply worried about the safety of the passengers and crew and offers condolences to their families.
She added that no Chinese citizens were known to be aboard the plane and that China will continue to closely monitor the developments of the missing flight.
In Washington, the White House said it was monitoring the situation surrounding the plane and President Barack Obama had been briefed on the matter.
"The president has been briefed on AirAsia Flight 8501 and White House officials will continue to monitor the situation," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said.
During a telephone conversation with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he was very sorry to hear of the tragedy and his country has a P3 Orion on standby to join the search.
Meanwhile, Airbus said in a press release that it will provide full assistance to the authorities in charge of the investigation.
The missing aircraft is powered by CFM-56-5B engines and has accumulated approximately 23,000 flight hours in some 13,600 flights, according to the aircraft manufacturer.
More information will be available once the details have been confirmed and cleared by authorities, Airbus said.
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