Prayers Are Needed for the Missing AirAsia QZ8501

An AirAsia flight travelling from Indonesia to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control with 162 people on board. Flight QZ8501 lost contact at 07:24 (23:24 GMT). The AirAsia flight had been due to arrive in Singapore at 08:30 (00:30GMT).

The missing jet had requested a "deviation" from the flight path due to bad weather, the company said. Search and rescue operations are under way

Earlier this year, 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.

There were 155 passengers on board, with 138 adults, 16 children and one infant, the company said in a statement. Also on board were two pilots and five cabin crew. Most of those on board were Indonesian, but there were six others on board, AirAsia has said: three South Koreans, and one each from France, Malaysia and Singapore.

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.

The company's chief executive, Tony Fernandes, tweeted: "Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. We must stay strong."

 

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