Malaysia-Based AirAsia Flight to Singapore Goes Missing
Air traffic control has lost contact with a Singapore-bound AirAsia flight that originated in Indonesia and was carrying more than 160 passengers. The Malaysia-based airline announced the flight had lost contact over Twitter earlier tonight. BBC reports:
Search and rescue operations are under way for the missing aircraft.
The flight had been due to arrive in Singapore at 08:30 (00:30GMT).
There were six foreigners on board the flight, reports say, three from South Korea and one each from the UK Malaysia and Singapore. The rest of the passengers were Indonesian.
An official with the transport ministry, Hadi Mustofa, told local media the plane lost contact over the Java Sea, between the islands of Kalimantan and Java.
He said the plane had asked for an unusual route before it lost contact and that the weather had been cloudy.
AirAsia have given few other details.
Another Malaysia-based airline, Malaysia Air, lost two flights this year, one to a missile shot over Ukraine and another somewhere en route to Beijing. AirAsia got into some controversy for an article that ran in their in-flight travel magazine shortly after that Malaysia Air flight went missing because it included the claim that "your captain is well prepared to ensure your plane will never get lost." AirAsia claimed the article went to print before the missing Malaysia Air flight but pulled the magazine, apologized, and promised disciplinary action anyway.
