DAY 2: Update on the missing Air Asia flight QZ 8501

2014 is now being referred as the worst year in the history of aviation in Asia. Malaysia's national carrier Malaysia Airlines has suffered two losses - flights MH370 and MH17.

Flight MH370 disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March with 239 passengers and crew. The wreckage, thought to be in southern Indian Ocean, has still not been located. MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in July, killing all 298 on board.

The Air Asia search team boarded the military aircraft by 06:00 flying very low about 1000-1500 ft above sea level. At about 08.33, an Australian Orion aircraft detected a “suspicious object” about 1,120km from where the plane lost contact. However, at 10.06 an Australian search planes confirmed the objects spotted were not from the missing Air Asia jet.

At about 14:00 the search team found two slick of oil close to where a group of Indonesian fishermen claimed to have heard an explosion near the island of Pulau Nangka. About 30 ships and 15 aircraft were taking part in the search, any ships in the area and "even fishermen" have been asked to join in the search.

It emerged today that the pilot on board the missing Air Asia plane was denied a request to increase altitude to avoid storm clouds minutes before the jet disappeared. Air traffic communication showed that six minutes before the plane vanished off radar, one of the pilots asked permission to turn left and climb from 32,000ft to 38,000ft due to the adverse weather but was denied the request because another plane was in the airspace at 34,000ft.

The head of Indonesia's search-and-rescue agency Bambang Soelistyo said that “The missing Air Asia Indonesia flight QZ8501 is likely to be at the bottom of the sea, based on the co-ordinates of the plane when contact with it was lost.”

Mr Soelistyo also said that on Tuesday the search area would be widened to cover West Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, and the southern parts of the waters off the Coast of Belitung Island. The search area will be widened on Tuesday.

The search has ended for a second day.
Picture Credit: Wikipedia