Another Airliner Missing!

AirAsia flight QZ8501 from Indonesia to Singapore missing

An Indonesia AirAsia AirBus 320-200, flying from Indonesia to Singapore with 162 people on board, has lost contact with air traffic control.

Flight QZ8501 went missing at 07:24 (23:24 UTC), the Malaysia-based AirAsia announced.

The Airbus disappeared about two hours into a three-hour flight, after requesting a “deviation” from the flight path, an increase in altitude to 38,000 feet from 32,000 feet, due to turbulent weather. Contact was lost some 200 nautical miles southeast of the Singapore-Jakarta FIR boundary, authorities said.

There were 162 people on board including 7 cabin crew, said the company in a statement:

• Passengers: 138 adults, 16 children and one infant
• Crew: Two pilots and five cabin crew
• Nationalities: 156 Indonesians, three South Koreans and one each of French, Malaysian and Singaporean.
• “The UK Foreign Office has confirmed that one Briton was on board the flight, and next of kin have been informed,” Bbc reported.
• According to the flight manifest, some 23 passengers were listed as no shows.

Flight MH370

In March, Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 mysteriously disappeared with 239 people on board on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Flight MH17

In July, Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shut down reportedly by a surface-to-air missile over eastern Ukraine. The wreckage was scattered over more than 10km between Luhansk and the neighboring Donetsk regions.

Flood Disaster

The disaster-stricken Malaysia is in the midst of its worst ever floods due to extreme rain events, which have forced more than 160,000 people to flee their homes in the worst-hit areas.

Air Disaster Links

• Second Malaysian Airliner Downed as Expected July 18, 2014
• Airlines