Jakarta: An AirAsia flight bound for Singapore from the Indonesian city of Surabaya lost contact with the air traffic control Sunday, media reported.
"AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact at 07:24hrs this morning," Xinhua reported citing a statement issued by AirAsia.
Officials said the Airbus 320-200 with 162 people on board lost contact with Surabaya airport 42 minutes after takeoff at 5:35 a.m. local time (5:35 p.m. Eastern Time Saturday). The aircraft was carrying 155 passengers and seven crew members.
Sky News, citing an official with Indonesia's Transport Ministry, reported that the aircraft had requested an unusual route before losing contact. That official, Hadi Mustofa told reports that the plane was believed to have been over the Java Sea between Kalimantan and Java islands.
The airline said that search and rescue operations were underway.
According to the website FlightAware.com, Flight QZ8501 was scheduled to depart from Juanda International Airport on the Indonesian island of East Java at 5:30 a.m. local time, with arrival in Singapore scheduled for 8:20 a.m. (7:20 p.m. Eastern Time Sunday). It had last flown the route on Dec. 26.
There was no further information regarding the status of the passengers and crew members onboard but search and rescue operations are in progress, and the airline is cooperating and assisting the rescue service, the statement added.
The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC.
AirAsia has established an emergency call centre for the family or friends of those who were on board. The number is: +622129850801.
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