REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia's air force was searching for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that went missing on Sunday after the pilots asked to change course to avoid bad weather during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501, an Airbus 320-200, lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control at 6.17 am (2317 GMT), officials said.
"The aircraft was on the submitted flight plan route and was requesting deviation due to en route weather before communication with the aircraft was lost," the airline said in a statement.
No distress signal had been sent, said Joko Muryo Atmodjo, air transportation director at Indonesia's transport ministry. Flight QZ8501 was between the Indonesian port of Tanjung Pandan and the town of Pontianak, in West Kalimantan province on Borneo island, when it went missing, Atmodjo told a news conference in Jakarta.
The airline said the captain and first officer were both experienced. Indonesia AirAsia said there were 155 passengers and seven crew on board. It said 156 were Indonesians, with three from South Korea and one each from Singapore, Malaysia and France.
Singapore, Malaysia and Australia had offered to help in the search. Malaysia said it was sending vessels and a C130 aircraft while Singapore had also sent a C130, officials said.
The aircraft had been flying at 32,000 feet and had asked to fly at 38,000 feet to avoid clouds, he added. Tanjung Pandan is the main town on Belitung island, roughly half way between Surabaya and Singapore. There was bad weather over the island at the time.
The flying time from Surabaya to Singapore is usually just over two hours. The plane had been due in Singapore at 8.30 am Singapore time (0030 GMT).
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