MALAYSIAN AIRASIA FLIGHT WITH 155 PASSANGERS CONFIRM ‘LOST CONTACT’

An AirAsia flight carrying 155 people from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore lost contact with air traffic control on Sunday, officials in the region and the budget carrier said.

Flight QZ8501, an Airbus 320-200, lost contact with the Jakarta air traffic control tower at 6.17am local time, Indonesian Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa told media.

Kuala Lumpur-based AirAsia confirmed its flight had lost contact with air traffic control and said a search-and-rescue operation had been launched.

Indonesian media said 149 Indonesians, three people from/sKorea, and one each from Singapore, Britain and Malaysia were on board.

The flight had been due in Singapore at 8:30am Singapore time. The Singapore airport said on its website the status of the flight was "delayed".

The incident comes at the end of a disastrous year for Malaysia's airlines.National flag carrier Malaysia Airlines lost two aircraft this year.

Its flight MH370 went missing on March 8 on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board.

On July 17, Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.
Meanwhile,  U.S. President Barack Obama was briefed on the disappearance of AirAsia flight QZ8501 on Saturday, said White House spokesman Eric Schultz.

Obama was briefed on the situation while on 

vacation with his family in Hawaii.

Source: Agency