— The Airbus A320-200 took off from the Indonesian city of Surabaya at 5:36 a.m. local time Sunday with 155 passengers and 7 crew members on board. Its destination was Singapore, a journey that usually takes a little over two hours.
— At 6:12 a.m., one of the pilots asked air traffic control permission to turn and climb to a higher altitude to try avoid bad weather, according to Indonesian officials.
— Minutes later, the plane disappeared from air traffic control’s radar.
— At 7:55 a.m., Flight 8501 was officially declared missing. Its last known position was over the Java Sea, between the islands of Belitung and Borneo.
— The majority of those on board the plane are Indonesian. There are also people from South Korea, Britain, France, Malaysia and Singapore.
But beyond those points lies a huge amount of uncertainty.
2. If the pilots requested a higher altitude because of weather, why didn’t air traffic control provide an alternative path?
Air traffic control approved the pilot’s request to turn left but denied permission for the plane to climb to 38,000 feet from 32,000 feet, Djoko Murjatmodjo, an aviation official at the Indonesian Transport Ministry, told the national newspaper Kompas.
The increased altitude request was denied because there was another plane flying at that height, he said.
Djoko suggested that Flight 8501 ascended despite air traffic control denying it permission.
Could this be a wireless navigated terrorists act,sounds pretty simple these days when is access to such a technology easy #CNN #8501QS
3. Could it have been a terrorist act?
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11. Was the crew inexperienced?
Not according to AirAsia.
Flight 8501’s captain has a total of 20,537 flying hours, with 6,100 of them with AirAsia Indonesia on the Airbus A320, the airline said. That’s a respectable amount of flying time.
The first officer has a total of 2,275 flying hours, AirAsia said. That’s also a reasonable amount for the position.
#8501QS What lessons from the failed #MH370 search are being applied to this latest search?
12. What lessons from the failed MH370 search are being applied to this latest search?
The main lessons seem to be in terms of communication.
Malaysian officials came under criticism for confusing and contradictory statements during the immediate aftermath of the disappearance of MH370.
Family members of passengers and crew complained about their treatment.
This time around, government and airline officials appear to treading more carefully.
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes tweeted that the company’s priority is “looking after all the next of kin” of crew and passengers.
And the search appears to be getting off to a more efficient start. Indonesian officials quickly posted a search plan, indicating ships from its navy — as well as assets from Malaysia, Singapore and Australian — were being called to help.
