bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

VARIOUS

China yesterday sent a warship to help in the search for the missing AirAsia plane, which a top official warned was probably at the bottom of the sea.
International crews scouring Indonesian waters for missing Flight QZ8501 had focused on a possible patch of oil for clues.
However, the supposed oil slicks were actually a chain of coral reefs, said Henry Bambang Soelistyo, the National Search and Rescue Agency chief.

Australia, Singapore and Malaysia joined the Indonesia-led search as relatives waited for news of their loved ones more than a day after the Airbus A320 disappeared over the Java Sea with 162 people on board.
Beijing is sending a frigate and is preparing to deploy a military jet "after consultations with the Indonesian government" to join the search effort, the defence ministry said last night.

The Hong Kong Immigration Department confirmed to the  South China Morning Post yesterday that one of the passengers is a Hong Kong resident who holds a British passport. It is understood the man is Choi Chi-man, 48, who was travelling with his two-year-old daughter Zoe.
The Airbus lost contact en route from Surabaya in Indonesia's East Java to Singapore on Sunday after the crew requested a change of flight plan due to bad weather. It is the third crisis for a Malaysian carrier this year.
Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said: "It is not an easy operation in the sea, especially in bad weather like this."
Fifteen ships and 30 aircraft were searching the area, Indonesian Air Force spokesman Hadi Tjahjanto said. "The government will not give up and is not giving a time limit for the search. What is important is to find the victims and the plane."
Soelistyo earlier dampened any hopes of survivors.

He said: "Based on the coordinates that we know, the evaluation would be that any estimated crash position is in the sea, and that the hypothesis is the plane is at the bottom of the sea."
Watch: Indonesia, Singapore hunt for missing jet

Ships and aircraft were searching an area where the sea is 40 to 50 metres deep, he said, adding that Indonesia was coordinating with other countries to borrow any equipment needed to scour the seabed. Distraught relatives spent the night in Surabaya hoping for news of loved ones as the international search effort expanded.
Intan, whose brother and his family and friends were on board, said Indonesia needed overseas help to find the plane. "My hope is Indonesia seeks as much help as possible from other countries. Don't claim, 'We have sophisticated technology', just ask other countries because they are better equipped," she said.
"My prayer is I really, really hope that there will be news about the people on board. Whatever it is, what is important is we know where they are now," she said.

AirAsia said 155 of those on board were Indonesian, with three South Koreans and one person each from Singapore, Malaysia, Britain - thought to be Hong Kong resident Choi - and France. The Frenchman was the co-pilot.
Air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft about an hour after it left Surabaya's Juanda international airport at about 5.35am local time on Sunday.
The twin-engine plane did not send a distress signal.
Additional reporting by Associated Press, Xinhua, Kyodo, Staff Reporter
 
 


‘It’s like having your insides ripped out’: Singaporean air crash widow on getting over Hong Kong husband and daughter’s death

Indonesia ends search for remains of AirAsia crash victims

AirAsia boss seeks to allay fears as flight aborted after malfunction

AirAsia crash searchers may have found French co-pilot after body 'wearing uniform' is retrieved

AirAsia flight QZ8501

China sends warship to help in search for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501

Singapore Air Force personnel search the Java Sea yesterday for any signs of the missing AirAsia jet that vanished on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Hongkonger Choi Chi-man was a passenger on the plane.

Family members of people on AirAsia flight QZ8501 pray togather at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya. Photo: Xinhua

A specialist from Singapore's Ministry of Transport's Air Accident Investigation Bureau showcases a set of underwater locator beacon detector that will be used to assist in locating the flight recorders of the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 plane. Photo: Reuters

A member of Indonesian search and rescue team shows the possible location of AirAsia flight QZ8501 at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya. Photo: Xinhua

Object spotted in sea not from the missing AirAsia plane: Indonesian vice president

Bracing for the worst, a relative of a QZ 8501 passenger weeps at the Surabaya airport as the second day of search operations for the missing jet yields little answers. Photo: Reuters

Bracing for the worst, a relative of a QZ 8501 passenger weeps at the Surabaya airport as the second day of search operations for the missing jet yields little answers. Photo: AFP

A woman weeps as she waits for news about the missing AirAsia aircraft at Surabaya airport. Photo: EPA

Rohana, the mother of Khairunisa, a flight attendant on missing Air Asia Flight QZ8501, points at her daughter in a family photo in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Sunday. Photo: AFP

An Indonesian air force helicopter prepares to search for the missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501, from a base in Kubu Raya, West Kalimantan. Photo: Reuters

Military and rescue authorities, facing a map of the initial search area, monitor the operation's progress at the Mission Control Centre, inside the National Search and Rescue Agency, in Jakarta. Photo: Reuters

A relative holds a picture of the Tanus family, who were on Flight QZ8501 together. Herumanto Tanus had been travelling with his wife and two sons. Photo: AFP

Singapore Navy servicemen board the frigate RSS Supreme, which is taking part in the search today. The photo was released by the state's defence ministry this morning. Photo: AFP

Despite tragedies this year, air travel is still safe

If there are no survivors on the AirAsia Airbus 320 jet that was flying from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore, 2014 will have been the worst year for air travel since 2005. Photo: Bloomberg

News

Asia

Hope for survivors among 162 on board runs out as Indonesia gets international support, two days after contact lost over Java Sea


China yesterday sent a warship to help in the search for the missing AirAsia plane, which a top official warned was probably at the bottom of the sea.
