KUALA LUMPUR: RESCUERS will today resume a massive search-and-rescue (SAR) mission for Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501, which went missing over the Java Sea yesterday, minutes after its pilots were granted permission to change course to avoid bad weather.
The Airbus A320-200, with 162 people — mostly Indonesians — on board, lost contact with Jakarta Air Traffic Control about an hour into the flight from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore.
This is the first time the AirAsia Group has ever lost a plane, with one of its founders, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, describing it as his “worst nightmare”.
Grieving family members converged at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya and Singapore’s Changi International Airport in anticipation of information on their loved ones. Indonesia AirAsia had set up an emergency call centre for family members to contact for information.
Malaysian and Singaporean
leaders expressed shock over the incident and said their countries would join Indonesia in the
SAR operation.
Indonesian authorities immediately launched a SAR effort, centred around the island of Belitung — midway between Surabaya and Singapore — but the mission was halted at 6.30pm (Malaysian time) yesterday due to poor visibility.
The six-year-old narrow-body aircraft, with seven crew members and 155 passengers, including one Malaysian, on board, left Juanda International Airport at 6.27am (Malaysian time) and was scheduled to arrive in Singapore at 8.30am.
Equipped with a weather airborne radar system, it lost contact at 7.18am without relaying any distress signal after pilot Captain Iriyanto, who had clocked 6,100 hours of flying time, was given the greenlight to fly at 38,000 feet from 32,000 feet to avoid clouds.
“(The SAR operation) ended at 5.30pm (local time) because it was getting dark. The weather was not too good as it was getting cloudy,” Indonesian Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa was quoted as saying by AFP yesterday.
He said the SAR efforts would resume today at 7am or earlier if the weather permitted.
In yesterday’s SAR effort, Indonesia’s air force deployed two aircraft. The country’s National Search-and-Rescue Agency (Basarnas) also dispatched vessels with 200 SAR members on board to scour the area near Belitung.
Malaysia last night deployed three navy vessels and a Royal Malaysian Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft, while Singapore’s air force deployed a similar aircraft and will put several vessels on standby
today.
Australia and India have also offered their assistance in the SAR effort, currently led by Indonesia, while aircraft maker Airbus Industrie said it was ready to help in any investigation.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in an immediate response, said Malaysia was prepared to help Indonesia in the SAR effort, adding that what could be confirmed so far was that the Indonesian-owned aircraft disappeared from radar screens after it departed.
“This means that there is a possibility that something untoward happened to the aircraft. We will assist in finding out what happened,” he said after visiting a flood relief centre at SM Padang Tengku in Kuala Lipis, Pahang, yesterday.
In a Twitter posting later, he said he had called Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo to express “our deep concern” and stated that Malaysia stood by “ready to help”.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said he was deeply saddened by the news and urged family members of those on board to be patient and to pray.