AirAsia flight QZ8501 from Singapore missing
An AirAsia flight travelling from the Indonesian
city of Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact
with air traffic control, the company has said.
Indonesian media say more than 160 people were
on the Airbus A320-200.
Flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control at
07:24 (23:24 GMT), Malaysia-based AirAsia
tweeted .
Malaysia's national carrier Malaysia Airlines has
suffered two disasters this year - flights MH370
and MH17 - but AirAsia has never lost a plane.
Flight MH370 disappeared on a flight from Kuala
Lumpur to Beijing in March with 239 passengers
and crew, and MH17 was shot down over Ukraine
in July, killing all 298 on board.
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.
"At the present time we unfortunately have no
further information regarding the status of the
passengers and crew members on board, but we
will keep all parties informed as more information
becomes available," a company statement said.
AirAsia has set up an emergency line for family or
friends of those who may be on board. The
number is +622 129 850 801.
The company's chief executive, Tony Fernandes,
tweeted : "Thank you for all your thoughts and
prayers. We must stay strong."

All is well