AirAsia plane with 161 aboard missing in
Indonesia
Jakarta — An AirAsia plane with 161 people aboard
lost contact with ground control on Sunday after
takeoff from Indonesia on the way to Singapore,
and search and rescue operations were under way.
The plane lost communication with Jakarta's air
traffic control at 07:24, about an hour before it
was scheduled to land in Singapore, the Singapore
Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement. The
contact was lost about 42 minutes after takeoff
from Indonesia's Surabaya airport, Hadi Mustofa,
an official of the transportation ministry told
Indonesia's MetroTV.
AirAsia said in a statement that the plane was an
Airbus A320-200 and that search and rescue
operations were in progress.
The plane had six crew and 155 passengers,
including 16 children and one infant, the general
manager of Surabaya's Juanda airport, Trikora
Raharjo, told The Associated Press.
There were six foreigners — three South Koreans
including an infant and one each from Singapore,
British and Malaysia, said Raharjo. The rest were
Indonesians, he said.
The plane lost contact when it was believed to be
over the Java Sea between Kalimantan and Java
islands, Mustofa said.
He said the weather in the area was cloudy.
The Singapore aviation authority said it was
informed about the missing plane by Jakarta
ground control about half an hour after the
contact was lost.
"Search and rescue operations have been activated
by the Indonesian authorities," it said, adding that
the Singapore air force and the navy also were
activated with two C-130 planes.