Flight from Indonesia to Singapore goes missing

Key points:

- An AirAsia flight QZ8501 from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore lost contact with air traffic control on Sunday at around 6:17 am local time.

- Plane is carrying 162 people - 155 Indonesian, three South Koreans, one French, one Malaysian, one Briton and one Singaporean.

- AirAsia has established an emergency call center. The number is +622129850801.

- Plane requested to deviation due to bad weather before contact was lost.

Map showing the approximate flight path of AirAsia flight QZ8501 when it went missing on Sunday during a flight from Surabaya to Singapore. [Data/Reuters]

5:00pm

Vietnamese foreign minister Pham Binh Minh says Vietnam 'stands ready' to help in search if requested.

4:46pm

"A flamboyant executive who loves race cars and soccer - and is known for speaking his mind, sometimes inappropriately - Fernandes has opened air travel to millions who previously couldn't afford it."

That's Associated Press' portrayal AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes. Click here for more details about the troubled businessman.

4:16pm

A specialist from Singapore's Ministry of Transport's Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) showcases a set of underwater locator beacon detector that will be used to assist in locating the flight recorders of the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 plane, at Changi Airport in Singapore.

3:50pm

Search teams had detected "a weak signal" but it has been ruled out. It is not coming from the plane, an Indonesian airforce spokesman says on local television. - BBC

Indonesian airforce spokesman says "oil spills were found on the search area", but it is still to be confirmed if they are from the missing plane or from other ships. - BBC

Indonesian official says Australian planes have spotted objects in the sea in the AirAsia search area. - AP

3:30pm

AirAsia plans to retire the flight code QZ8501, Malaysia’s Star Online reports. “We have forwarded our suggestion to the headquarters, but we are still waiting for the approval and coordination from the headquarters,” The Star quotes AirAsia CEO Sunu Widyatmoko as saying.

3:05pm

Hong Kong's Immigration Department has just confirmed a passenger on board the missing AirAsia Indonesia QZ 8501 plane is a Hong Kong resident who holds a foreign passport, says the BBC's Martin Yip in the territory. Multiple Hong Kong media reports name the man, as 48-year-old Choi Chi-man, which matches that of the British passenger.

1:50pm

Family members of passengers on board missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 cry at a waiting area in Juanda International Airport, Surabaya December 29, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

1:00pm

German insurer Allianz is the lead re-insurer, through one of its divisions, to the AirAsia plane that went missing on Sunday, the company said on Monday.

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty UK (AGCS) is also the lead liability insurer for Malaysian Airlines, which lost two aircrafts earlier this year. -the Reuters

12:30pm

China has offered to send aircraft and ships to help in the search, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

"The Chinese side has already said to Indonesia that it is willing to urgently send aircraft and ships to participate in search and rescue, and will provide other aid according to Indonesian needs," the ministry said in a statement.

12:20pm

AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes tweets: "The warmth and support from the people of Indonesia has been incredible. Everywhere I go. Nothing but pure support."

"The staff in Indonesia have been brave, strong, committed and doing 150 percent for all our guests. My pride for them is enormous."

12:10pm

Indonesia will review the operations of Indonesia AirAsia, the local unit of Malaysia's AirAsia, " to make sure its performance can be better in the future."

Shares in parent budget airline AirAsia fell more than 7.8 percent on Monday to 2.71 ringgit, the biggest one-day drop in more than three years. - the Reuters

Journalists crowd during a news conference on the search and locate operation for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501, at Juanda International Airport, Surabaya December 29, 2014.[Photo/Agencies]

11:55am

The satellite service Tomnod, used in an attempt to help find missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370, says it stands ready to search for the missing AirAsia plane if necessary and has "tasked" its satellites to scan the area the plane was last seen.

DigitalGlobe's crowd-sourcing arm says on its Facebook page: “We are following the news of missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 & hope that the search and rescue teams who've been deployed are able to recover & rescue safely & successfully.”

If the search and rescue teams are unable to recover and rescue the missing plane, Tomnod says it will release satellite imagery and launch a crowdsourcing campaign.

"We can't anticipate exactly when we will be able to collect images - it depends on daylight, weather and cloud cover," Tomnod is quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald. "We will send an email out and notify people on Facebook and Twitter as soon as we launch a campaign." -AFP

11:25am

The daughter of the pilot on the missing AirAsia plane has posted a touching message on social media, pleading with her father to come home, the Straits Times reports.

Angela Anggi Ranastianis, 22, wrote in the message on Path: "Papa, come back, I still need you. Return my papa to me. Papa, come back, pa. Papa needs to be found, papa must return."

11:12am

South Korea's Yonhap news agency says South Korea will send a surveillance plane as early as Tuesday to support Indonesia's search and recue operations. A South Korean family of three are confirmed to be on board the plane.

10:55am

The head of Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency has told reporters that based on current co-ordinates and the estimated crash site, "the hypothesis is the plane is at the bottom of the sea".

"That's the preliminary suspicion and it can develop based on the evaluation of the result of our search," AFP quotes him as saying.

10:50am

Singapore has deployed two more vessels to help in the search and rescue effort.

A Republic of Singapore Air Force C130 plane joined the search operations on Sunday and two more planes from Singapore are expected to join the mission on Monday.

Submarine support and a rescue vessel are also on standby for deployment.

10:45am

It's unclear if weather played a role in the aircraft's disappearance, but rescuers say it could be a factor that influences how quickly they find the plane.

Large waves and clouds hampered the search for the plane on Sunday, the agency said. By Monday morning, weather in the area appeared to be clearing up, CNN International meteorologist Tom Sater said.

Authorities say they plan to divide what they called a "very broad search area" into four sections of 120 by 240 nautical miles.

10:35am

First Admiral Sigit Setiayana, the Naval Aviation Center commander at the Surabaya air force base, said that 12 navy ships, five planes, three helicopters and a number of warships were talking part, along with ships and planes from Singapore and Malaysia. The Australian Air Force also sent a search plane.

Setiaya said visibility was good. "God willing, we can find it soon,'' he said. - the Associated Press

10:30am

Staff members unload AirAsia's QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore, which took the same code as the missing plane that took off 24 hours earlier, after it landed at Changi Airport in Singapore December 29, 2014. Indonesia searched the Java Sea on Monday for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that went missing after its pilot failed to gain permission to alter course to avoid a storm cell during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. Flight QZ8501 did not issue a distress signal and disappeared five minutes after requesting a change of course on Sunday, said government and transport officials. [Photo/Agencies]

10:10am

Briton Choi Chi Man and his two-year-old daughter feared missing on the Air Asia plane was only on board because there was no room on an earlier flight, friends said. His wife and son flew on earlier flight.

Mr Choi, who is originally from Hull, Yorkshire, lives in Singapore but works in Indonesia where he is a unit managing director for electronic manufacturing firm Alstom Power.

An engineering graduate of Essex University, his parents still live in Hull, after emigrating from Hong Kong, and he is understood to have a brother and sister in the UK. - the Daily Telegraph

9:50am

Huge possibility of accident, says Indonesia's Vice-President Jusuf Kalla: The Straits Times

Indonesia's vice-president Jusuf Kalla (L) monitors progress in the search for AirAsia Flight QZ8501 during a visit to the National Search and Rescue Agency in Jakarta December 28, 2014 in this picture supplied by Antara Foto.[Photo/Agencies]

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak also spoke of the possibility of the plane having crashed.

He said at a flood relief centre that the plane disappearing from radar screens soon after departure "means the possibility of something untoward happening to the aircraft", reported The Star.

9:15am

Indonesia searched the Java Sea on Monday for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that went missing after its pilot failed to gain permission to altercourse to avoid a storm cell during a flight from the Indonesiancity of Surabaya to Singapore.

Air Force spokesman Hadi Thahjanto said two C-130 Hercules planes were focusing their search efforts in areas northeast of Indonesia's Bangka island, which lies roughly halfway between Surabaya and Singapore, in the Java Sea.

Singapore said it had sent two naval vessels to help look for the Airbus A320-200 operated by Indonesia AirAsia,adding a C-130 took part in the search on Sunday.

Malaysia would send three naval vessels and a C-130 toassist, Singapore's Channel News Asia television reported. An Australian P3 Orion surveillance plane left Darwin to join thesearch, Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio said. The United States, Britain, South Korea and India also offered help. - the Reuters

9:10am

AirAsia shares fell at the start of trade on Monday, after Indonesia resumed its search for the missing jetliner QZ8501 at first light on Monday.

The Malaysia-based budget airline fell as much as 12.9 percent to 2.56 ringgit at 0102 GMT, its lowest point since Nov. 28. The stock has gained 21.4 percent since the beginning of the year.

8:50am

Australian air force pilots have joined the search for this missing AirAsia plane. An RAAF P3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft left from Darwin early on Monday morning to join the search, Defence said in a statement.

Defence Force boss Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin said the Orion had well-proven search and rescue capabilities.

It has a maritime search radar along with infra-red and electro-optical sensors to help the crew with their visual scans of the ocean. - the Guardian

Backgrounder: Major air accidents in recent years

8:05am

Indonesia's ambassador to Australia, Najib Riphat Kesoema, has just told the ABC that Sunday's search involved eight boats, two aircraft and three helicopters, and will be bolstered this morning by the assistance of Singapore and other countries.

Kesoema said the weather on Monday morning was still "not very good" but had improved from yesterday.

He said he had contacted the recovery effort to convey Australia's offer to send an P-3 Orion surveillance plane to assist in the search. – the Guardian.

Co-pilot Remi Emmanuel Plesel (left) and Captain Iriyanto on the missing flight. [Photo/BBC]

7:55am

A 10-member extended family missed boarding 8501 by only minutes. But it was 9am local time before an airport official approached Christianawati and her big family and said the words she will never forget.

"This must have been the best Christmas gift your family ever received," she recalls him saying. "The flight you were supposed to be on has crashed."

The effect of this revelation on Christianawati and her family was immediate.

"We felt completely limp, the whole family," Christianawati told Fairfax Media, "It was like we'd lost our spirit." – Sydney Morning Herald.

7:40am

Two members of the Indonesian Navy's Tactical Commanding Operator (TACCO) help with the search for AirAsia flight QZ 8501 on board a CN235 aircraft over Karimun Java, in the Java Sea December 28, 2014 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. [Photo/Agencies]

Search has resumed for AirAsia Indonesia flight 8501, which went missing with 162 people on board on Sunday, an Indonesian official says. - BBC

6:35 am

Indonesia set to resume for search for missing AirAsia plane.

5:13 am

The search plan from CNN news

Seven ships and two helicopters will start searching for the plane as soon as day breaks, according to Indonesia's National Rescue Agency. The plan is to divide the search area into four broad sections of 120 by 240 nautical miles, the agency said. They may also search on land, saying that it is a "very broad search location."

Malaysia will send three vessels and Singapore will add at least one more search plane, according to rescue officials. Australia and India also offered assistance.

Cloudy weather and waves up to 9 feet hampered the search on Sunday, rescue officials said.

2:10 am

Indonesian search and rescue teams are to resume operations at 6am local time on Monday, or earlier, depending on the weather. The search for AirAsia flight QZ8501 was suspended due to darkness. The US, Australia and India are among the countries to have offered help in the search.- the guardian

0:20 am, Dec 29 Beijing Time

The Briton on board the AirAsia flight QZ8501 has been named as Chi Man Choi. He is thought to have been travelling with his daughter, Zoe, on tickets bought on Boxing Day. He is believed to hold a British passport but lives in Singapore with his family, says Channel News Asia.

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