Missing Air Asia Indonesia flight QZ8501 is likely to be “at the bottom of the sea” according to officials in Indonesia.
The Airbus A320-200 with 162 passengers and crew onboard was flying from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore when it went missing about 50 minutes after taking off on Sunday morning.
Bambang Soelistyo, head of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency, told a press conference in Jakarta: “Based on the co-ordinates given to us and evaluation that the estimated crash position is in the sea, the hypothesis is the plane is at the bottom of the sea.”
Air traffic controllers lost contact with flight QZ8501 shortly after the pilot had asked to climb to 38,000 feet to avoid heavy storm clouds over the Java Sea, near the island of Borneo.
The incident is the third to affect Malaysia-based airlines this year after Malaysia Airlines lost flights MH370 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March and MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine in July.
Air Asia chief executive Tony Fernandes, who flew to Surabaya after the incident, said: “We are very devastated by what's happened, it's unbelievable”
The airline added in a statement: “Air Asia Indonesia continue to support these efforts and has been actively cooperating with the search and rescue authorities.
“Air Asia Indonesia’s primary focus remains on the families and Sunu Widyatmoko, chief executive officer of Air Asia Indonesia is currently stationed at the family centre in Surabaya.
“We have been keeping the families updated on the search and rescue efforts as well as provide emotional support. Another group of Air Asia officials are providing the same to the families based in Singapore.”