A massive search operation was launched to locate the Airbus A 320-200 but with no success. The operation has been called off for the day due to bad weather and darkness .
The AirAsia plane which went missing in bad weather today en route from Indonesia to Singapore, was carrying 162 people. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the Airbus plane around an hour after it left Juanda international airport at Surabaya in east Java. Shortly before disappearing, the plane asked permission from Jakarta air traffic control to track away from its flight plan and climb above bad weather in an area noted for severe thunderstorms. Indonesian media reports said that three areas where the plane was suspected to have lost contact were combed for hours with no success.
There were no Indian nationals n board. An Indonesian transport official confirmed that seven crew and 155 passengers were on board. The plane took off from Surabaya (Indonesia) at 5.20 am local time and was scheduled to land at Singapore's Changi Airport at 8.30 am. Indonesian TV channels said there were 149 Indonesians,three Koreans, one Singaporean, one Briton and one Malaysian on board.
Meanwhile, Malaysia's Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai dismissed reports that the missing flight has crashed in Belintung island . He also dismissed the claims that wreckage of the aircraft had been found.
It is the third crisis for a Malaysia based carrier this year. The loss of contact with the Air Asia plane comes nearly10 months after the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370, which dropped off radar over Southeast Asia on March 8th. Searchers are yet to find any debris from Flight MH 370,which officials believe crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. Another Malaysian aircraft MH-17 was shot down on 17th July in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, India has put three ships and a maritime surveillance aircraft on standby for assistance in search operation after an Air Asia flight went missing today en route from Indonesia to Singapore. Talking to AIR, Navy spokesperson said that the long range maritime surveillance Boeing aircraft is presently at Arakkonam, about 70 kilometres from Chennai in Tamil Nadu. One ship has sailed from Chennai to Port Blair and two others are in the Andaman sea, ready to be diverted in case of a request for help.
Along with these, a P-8I aircraft has also been put on standby. The aircraft is used for maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare operations.
