Air Asia flight missing after losing contact with ATC

An AirAsia flight with 162 people aboard went missing en route from Indonesia to Singapore on Sunday after losing contact with air traffic controllers.

A transport official said Flight QZ8501 lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control just after 07:24am local time.  The aircraft was in the Indonesian Flight Information Region (FIR), more than 200 nm southeast of the Singapore- Jakarta FIR boundary, when contact was lost, Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said.  Contact with the plane was lost 42 minutes after takeoff. An Indonesian transport official confirmed that seven crew and 155 passengers were on board.  The plane took off from Surabaya (Indonesia) at 5.20 am local time and was scheduled to land at Singapore's Changi Airport at 8.30 am.  A statement on AirAsia's Facebook page said: "AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control at 0724hrs this morning."  "At the present time we unfortunately have no further information regarding the status of the passengers and crew members on board, but we will keep all parties informed as more information becomes available," the Malaysia-based carrier said in a statement.  The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC.