KUALA LUMPUR: Singapore has activated its Search and Rescue assets and is on standby to assist Indoesian authorities for the missing AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ8501.
The flight was scheduled to arrive at 8.30am in the republic from Surabaya, Indonesia, when the Jakarta Air Traffic Control lost contact at 7.54am.
“The aircraft was in the Indonesian Flight Information Region (FIR) when contact was lost, more than 200 nm southeast of the Singapore-Jakarta FIR boundary,” said Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) in a statement.
It added that search and rescue operations have been activated by the Indonesian authorities from the Pangkal Pinang Search and Rescue office.
“The Singapore Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC), managed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and supported by various agencies, including the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), has also been activated and has offered help to the Indonesian authorities,” CAAC said adding that two C130s are already on stand-by for this purpose.
“We remain ready to provide any assistance to support the search and rescue effort,” said CAAS.
The Singapore agency said that CAAS and Changi Airport Group (CAG) Crisis Management Centres have already been activated.
“We are working with the airline’s crisis management team,” it said.
CAAS said a waiting area, and all necessary facilities and support have been set up for relatives and friends of the affected passengers at Changi Airport Terminal 2 (Level 3).
Further updates will be provided once more information is available, it said.