The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has said it is coordinating search and rescue (SAR) operations with SAR offices in Banjarmasin,South Kalimantan; Lampung and Palembang, South Sumatra; Pangkalpinang, Bangka Belitung; Pontianak, West Kalimantan; and Tanjung Pinang, Riau Islands, for an AirAsia flight traveling from Surabaya, East Java, to Singapore reported to have lost contact with air traffic control (ATC) on Sunday morning
he National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has said it is coordinating search and rescue (SAR) operations with SAR offices in Banjarmasin,South Kalimantan; Lampung and Palembang, South Sumatra; Pangkalpinang, Bangka Belitung; Pontianak, West Kalimantan; and Tanjung Pinang, Riau Islands, for an AirAsia flight traveling from Surabaya, East Java, to Singapore reported to have lost contact with air traffic control (ATC) on Sunday morning.
'At 7:30 a.m. local time, the agency's Indonesia Mission Control Center [IDMCC] received a report that an AirAsia Airbus 320 aircraft serving the Surabaya-Singapore route had lost contact in an area around Kumai Bay at 6:17 a.m.,' said Basarnas as quoted by Antara news agency in a press statement on Sunday.
According to ATC officials at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, the last known location of AirAsia flight number QZ8501 was 03.09.15 South and 111.28.21 East. The aircraft should have entered Singaporean air space at 6:52 a.m. local time.
Earlier, acting director general of air transportation at the Transportation Ministry, Djoko Murjatmodjo, confirmed that the AirAsia flight had lost contact.
Preliminary reports said the aircraft took off from Juanda Airport, Surabaya, at 5:20 a.m. local time and was scheduled to arrive at Changi Airport, Singapore, at around 8:30. The pilot has been named as Capt. Irianto, with First Officer (FO) Remi Emmanuel Plesel. A total of 155 passengers, comprising 138 adults, 16 children and one baby, were on board. (ebf)
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