Tag: QZ 8501

  • Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ 8501 – Search and Rescue

    AirAsia Airbus A320 9M-AFN Side view
    AirAsia Airbus A320 9M-AFN Side view

    KUALA LUMPUR, December 29th 2014 – An Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ 8501 has lost contact from Indonesian air traffic controller yesterday morning (December 28th 2014) and is still missing as of 12:55 AM today.

    Search and rescue process is underway. Listed below are countries that offer help or already helping with search and rescue process of Flight QZ 8501.

    Summary: Many countries are offering help as of now. Indonesia is leading the search and rescue team. Search for Day 1 has been suspended after dusk because of lack of sunlight. Search will resume on Day 2 (Monday).

     

    Search Update – Day 2 (December 29th 2014)

    Updated on 11:14 AM

    The search resumes after it was suspended the previous night. More nations are expection to join the search today.

    Australia has deployed a Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft to assist in search operations. The Australian air force and navy joined the search ops.

     

    Australia

    A P3 Orion aircraft is on standby to assist with search process.

    Prime Minister Tony Abbott has also spoke with Indonesian President, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to express his condolences of the incident and offer assistance as necessary. Foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop has confirmed that there are no Australians onboard. Nevertheless, she reiterated that Australia is offering support and assistance as necessary (source).

     

    India

    Pranav Kulkarni said Indian Navy keeps P8i maritime reconnaissance aircraft at INS Rajali. Three ships are also on standby for search and rescue.

     

    Indonesia

    Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency deployed seven ships and two helicopters to search the shores of Belitung and Kalimantan, shortly after the aircraft reported missing.

    Indonesian Air Force Boeing 737 reconnaissance aircraft has also been sent to the last known location of Flight QZ 8501.

    Indonesian Navy said it has dispatched four ships by the end of Day 1 of search operation.

    Indonesian Army deployed ground troops to search at shores and mountans of adjacent islands.

     

    Malaysia

    Malaysia has set up a rescue coordination center in Subang and put three aircraft and three military vessels to assist in search and rescue operation.

    Prime Minister Najib Razak said Putrajaya will assist Indonesia AirAsia in finding the missing aircraft. The media statement was made during an event in Lipis, Pahang on December 28th 2014.

     

    Singapore

    Singapore Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) has initially deployed a C0130 Hercules aircraft for search and rescue process of Indonesia AirAsia QZ 8501. A Singaporean officer will be deployed to Jakarta to aid Indonesian authorities on search operation and two more C-130 Hercules will be deployed for search and rescue operation.

     

    United States

    No direct assistance is being offered as of now.

    Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman told media that US President, Barack Obama has been briefed about the situation and White House officials will continue to monitor the progress.

    Notes

    • Originally published on 1:13 AM, December 29th 2014
    • Updated on 11:14 AM, December 29th 2014
    • Revision 2
  • Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ 8501 – Flight Path

    Flightradar24 via its Twitter account @flightradar24 has published the flight path for AirAsia QZ 8501.

    AirAsia QZ 8501 Flight Path - Picture from flightradar24.com
    AirAsia QZ 8501 Flight Path – Picture from flightradar24.com

     

    From the picture, we can see that the aircraft lost its ADS-B transmission while it is in cruise altitude and speed. This is quite unlikely as the aircraft is at the safest phase during cruise phase.

  • Indonesia AirAsia QZ 8501 is Malaysian or Indonesian?

    AirAsia Airbus A320 9M-AFN Side view
    AirAsia Airbus A320 9M-AFN Side view

    Malaysia has already been hit by two major aviation disasters, namely Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370 and Flight MH 17. AirAsia, the leading budget carrier of Asia starts operation in Malaysia. Therefore, the recent Indonesia AirAsia incident is also associated with Malaysia although it has very little connection with Malaysia / Malaysian government.

    Indonesia AirAsia Ownership Information

    Contrary to popular belief, AirAsia Berhad does not hold majority share in Indonesia AirAsia. This is because Indonesian law does not allow majority foreign ownership of domestic civil aviation operations.

     

    Indonesia, not Malaysia

    For Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ 8501, we must keep in mind of the following:

    • Flight QZ 8501 is an Indonesian aircraft, bound by Indonesian rules and regulations.
    • The flight also departed from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore. The flight lost contact with Indonesian air traffic controller in Indonesian Airspace.

    There is quite a number of internet users mistaken this as a Malaysian aircraft:

    Comment on AirAsia Facebook page 141228 1712
    Comment on AirAsia Facebook page 141228 1712

    This one is taken on AirAsia Facebook page.

     

    Comment on RT.com page 141228 1712
    Comment on RT.com page 141228 1712

    Another screenshot taken from Russian-based news portal also indicated the same sentiment.

    We hope that news outlets should be more specific in reporting news to prevent false news and sentiments being raised, especially in light of two aviation disasters involving Malaysia before.

    It is important for us to stop the blame game and let the respective government(s) and authorities focus on their investigation instead.

    Nevertheless, AirAsia is one of the safest airline in the world with no prior incident with fatalities.

  • BREAKING: AirAsia Plane Missing – Fate Unknown for 162

    BREAKING: An AirAsia plane carrying passenger from Surabaya to Singapore has been reported missing.

    More reports HERE

    Source: Time

  • AirAsia (Indonesia) Flight QZ8501 Incident

    Indonesia AirAsia Airbus A320-216; PK-AXC at Singapore Changi Airport (SIN), 2011 By Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
    Indonesia AirAsia Airbus A320-216; PK-AXC at Singapore Changi Airport (SIN), 2011 By Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

    DEVELOPING STORY

    KUALA LUMPUR, December 28th 2014 (Sunday): An Indonesia AirAsia flight (QZ 8501) from Surabaya, Indonesia has lost contact with air traffic control on  at 6:17 AM (local time, Indonesia) – 2317 hrs GMT.

    All times are stated in Malaysian Standard Time (MST, GMT +8:00) unless specified otherwise.

    An official from Indonesian Transport Ministry, Hadi Mustofa said the plane asked for unusual route before losing contact with air traffic controller.

    The flight is scheduled to arrive Singapore at 8:30 AM but it has yet to arrive.

    It is currently unknown whether Flight QZ 8501 has anything to do with the weather or not.

     

    Flight Path

    AirAsia QZ 8501 Flight Path - Picture from flightradar24.com
    AirAsia QZ 8501 Flight Path – Picture from flightradar24.com

    Shortly after departure, the aircraft disappeared at cruising altitude and speed. Main article: AirAsia QZ 8501 flight path

    It deviated few degrees by heading from it original route shortly before it disappeared. From weather data near to the point of lost contact, the aircraft is seen traversing through bad weather area.

     

    Passengers and Crew

    The Airbus A320-200 had 155 passengers for QZ 8501. The total figure given by TIME is 162.

    The flight comprise of 149 Indonesians, 2 Koreans, 1 Singaporean, 1 Briton and 1 Malaysian (source).

    The pilot is identified as Iriyanto.

     

    The Aircraft

    The aircraft in flight QZ 8501, Airbus A320-200 is registered as PK-AXC. The ICAO-designated PK-prefix means it is registered in Indonesia.

    The aircraft has just 4.5 hours of fuel left at the time of disappearance.

     

    Search and Rescue Process

    Click here for search and rescue effort by country

    The aircraft is confirmed missing as of 7:55 AM while the last contact occured at 7:24 AM (6:24 AM Western Indonesia Time).

    Day 1: Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia worked together to search for the missing plane. Australia has also offered assistance of deemed necessary. No positive results have been found.

    Day 2: Royal Australian Air Force and Navy has joined the search. As of 11:21 AM, no positive results have been found.

     

    Jurisdiction

    The aircraft is registered in Indonesia and owned by an Indonesian company, AirAsia Indonesia. Besides, the incident does not occur in Malaysia. Therefore, Malaysian government is not involved with this incident. Read more here.

     

    Contact Information

    AirAsia has established an emergency call centre for family and friends of those who are affected. The phone number is +622129850801.

    Please check back this page for updates.

    Source: CNBC