Sunday, 28 Dec 2014 (Day 1)
11:40PM: "The weather conditions were not good, but further than that we don't really want to speculate," AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said at a news conference in Surabaya. "Obviously there were storm clouds and the pilot had made a request to change altitude. That's as far we know. Let's find the aircraft and then we will do the proper investigation."
The National Transportation Safety Board in the US is ready to help if needed, a spokesman says.
11:10PM: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak tweets that he has called Indonesian President Joko Widodo. "Expressed our deep concern. Offered Malaysia's fullest support and assistance to Indonesian search and rescue effort," he wrote.
11:05PM: "As the AirAsia flight has been missing for more than 10 hours, we can say there is a big possibility it was involved in an accident," Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said at Indonesia's national search and rescue agency.
"The Indonesian government has ordered the National Search and Rescue Agency, Air Force, Navy and Army, as well as local governments, to mobilise every ability and piece of equipment in search of this plane, at sea and on land," he added.
10:05PM: Indonesia has accepted Singapore's offer to launch four navy ships to join the search for QZ8501, says Second Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing. "Our prayers and thoughts are with the passengers, crew, and their families. Hope the missing plane will be located soon," he wrote in a Facebook post.
9:30PM: A C-130 aircraft sent by the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) took off around 5pm and reached the search area by 6:30pm. It combed the area for two hours before heading back.
Separately, Singapore's Defence Minister said the navy has four ships on standby to join the search.
9:16PM: Sixteen next-of-kin have taken up the offer to fly to Surabaya tonight, a Changi Airport Group spokesperson said.
9:10PM: The Pope said he is praying for people on board QZ8501 as well as on an Italian ferry which caught fire off Greece: "My thoughts in this moment go to the passengers of the airplane which went missing while it was en route from Indonesia to Singapore as well as the passengers of the ships that have been involved in incidents in the past hours at the Adriatic Sea."
8:59PM: South Korean media are reporting that one of three of the Koreans on board is Park Sung-beom, a missionary from a church in Yeosu. YTN says he was carrying out mission work at Malangwi near Surabaya. His wife and infant daughter are believed to be with him on the plane.
7:22PM: Search and locate operations have been suspended for tonight, Indonesian reports say. Three planes had been combing three areas where QZ8501 was suspected to have lost contact for about two hours with no progress, the person in charge of Indonesia's search team was quoted as saying.
The search operations were suspended at 6:30pm Singapore-time "because it was getting dark", AFP quotes transport ministry official Hadi Mustofa as saying. He says they will resume the search at 7am or earlier.
7:15PM: AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes tweets "this is my worst nightmare, but there is no stopping".
7:00PM: Channel NewsAsia understands that the Singaporean on board the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 is a two-year-old girl. She was travelling with her father, a British national. Her mother, who is Singaporean, had travelled back to Singapore earlier from Surabaya with the child’s older sibling.
6:56PM: Malaysia is sending three navy ships and three aircraft to help in the search for QZ8501. Defence Minister Hishammudin Hussein says he has spoken with his Indonesian counterpart and "in the spirit of ASEAN solidarity, we are ready to be of service if needed by the Indonesian government".
6.54pm said:
AirAsia has updated its list of the nationalities of the missing #QZ8501 passengers and crew.
A search and rescue operation was launched after the flight, which was carrying 162 people from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore, lost contact with air traffic control.
Nationalities of passengers:
- 1 Singapore
- 1 Malaysia
- 3 South Korea
- 1 United Kingdom
- 149 Indonesia
Nationalities of crew:
6:46PM: The Republic of Singapore Airforce's C-130 is due to reach the designated search area in a few hours, says Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen.
6:33PM: Changi Airport Group has confirmed that 47 relatives and friends of 57 passengers on board QZ8501 have registered at the relative's holding area at Changi Airport's Terminal 2.
Help and support is being offered to them by 36 Changi Airport Group care officers and four counsellors from the Ministry of Social and Family Development.
Arrangements for local accommodation or for travel to Indonesia have been made for next-of-kin, CAG said.
CAG also said three AirAsia flights were retimed on Sunday.
6:29PM: The one Malaysian passenger on board has been identified as Sii Chung Huei, a businessman from Kuching, but based in Jakata, the New Straits Times reports.
6:19PM: The head of Basarnas, Indonesia's search and rescue agency, Mr Sutrisno, has been quoted by Detik.com as saying radars have yet to detect signals from the emergency location transmitter.
Indonesia's Vice President Jusuf Kalla is at Basarnas' mission control overseeing the search operations.
4.05pm: Indonesia has accepted Singapore’s offer to assist in the search and locate efforts, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. Indonesian authorities requested for one C-130 plane for now. The plane has already been launched.
2.37pm: Indonesian transport minister say search and locate operations will be focused on an area off East Java.
2.27pm: Prime Minister Najib tweets his condolences
2.05pm: Indonesia's transport ministry instructs all ships in the area to look out for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501.
1.49pm: RSAF has two C-130 aircrafts on standby to assist in search-and rescue operations
