An Indonesian official heading the Search and Rescue operations has stated that the AirAsia airplane is probably at the “bottom of the ocean”, according to the AFP.
“The last coordinates were above the sea, so the most possible scenario is that it is in the bottom of the ocean”, he stated in a press conference in Jakarta.
According to the Indonesian official, the search and rescue operation uses a special sonar mechanism that can “Read” up to 2,000 meters in depth
Australia is the fourth country that has announced that it will be aiding in the search and rescue operations for the AirAsia aircraft that went missing yesterday, during a routine flight between Indonesia and Singapore. Earlier, it was revealed that the company assigned the name and number of the missing flight to the next flight! Monday’s “QZ8501” already completed the same exact route as its previous sister fight. Meanwhile, a family of ten missed the flight by 30 minutes only, thus not boarding the fateful airplane and they now count their blessings and luck after the brush with fate.
Last Night
Air Asia: Information for emergency landing of the Airbus in Belitung Island come to light
The Indonesian Ministry of Transport has not yet announced that the aircraft of Air Asia has crashed and the reason is that is currently examines information, according to which the Airbus A320-200 with 162 passengers made an emergency landing in the eastern part of the island of Belitung sea Java.
According to the Ministry representative: “”We are in the center of the crisis in Jakarta and we are not yet have certain information. According to some data, our colleagues in Surabaya learned about an emergency landing and we are currently trying to cross the information.
The story as it broke
AirAsia flight from Indonesia to Singapore goes missing
An AirAsia flight travelling from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control, according to the company.
The Indonesian media say that 155 people were on board.
The aircraft, flight number QZ8501, lost contact with air traffic control just after 07:00 am local time, according to an AirAsia tweet.
“Search and rescue operations are in progress and AirAsia is cooperating fully and assisting the rescue service,” the airline said in a statement. “At the present time, we unfortunately have no further information regarding the status of the passengers and crew members on board.”
The aircraft was – at the time- the Indonesian Flight Information Region (FIR) when contact was lost around 200 nautical miles southeast of the Singapore-Jakarta FIR boundary, according to the Singapore’s Civil Aviation Authority.
Singapore has activated multiple agencies, including its military AirForce and Navy, to help Indonesian authorities with the search, the authority said.
Indonesian Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa said the plane asked for an unusual route before it lost contact, according to a Reuters report. Singapore is in the midst of its rainy season and there has been no statement on whether the plane might have been concerned about storms.
