SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Jet Carrying 162 Passengers Goes Missing Over Java Sea
Bad weather was reported in the region; search operations have been largely suspended for the night
Dec 28, 2014
A jet carrying 162 people went missing early Sunday over the Java Sea. According to news reports, the AirAsia plane, an Airbus A320-200, was flying from Indonesia to Singapore and lost contact with air traffic control about 42 minutes after takeoff. No distress call was made.
Bad weather including dense storm clouds, heavy wind, and lightening was reported in the area, and an air search operation has now been suspended for the night.
According to the Associated Press:
Aircraft searching for AirAsia Flight 8501 called off the effort for the night and will resume at Monday morning, said Achmad Toha of Indonesia's search and rescue agency. Some ships were continuing the search overnight, he said.
The plane took off Sunday morning from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, and was about halfway to its destination, Singapore, when it vanished from radar.
The last communication between the pilot and air traffic control was at 6:13 a.m. (2313 GMT Saturday), when the pilot 'asked to avoid clouds by turning left and going higher to 34,000 feet (10,360 meters).' It was last seen on radar at 6:16 a.m., and a minute later was no longer there, Djoko Murjatmodjo, Indonesia's acting director general of transportation, told reporters.
Agence France-Press reports that hundreds of Indonesians descended on the Juanda International Airport near Surabaya, East Java, on Sunday hoping for news of the missing flight.
AirAsia's Chief Executive Tony Fernandes, who has flown to Surabaya, told the BBC: "We don't want to speculate but right now of course the plane has been missing for 12 hours and there's a deep sense of depression here."
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. If you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
A jet carrying 162 people went missing early Sunday over the Java Sea. According to news reports, the AirAsia plane, an Airbus A320-200, was flying from Indonesia to Singapore and lost contact with air traffic control about 42 minutes after takeoff. No distress call was made.
Bad weather including dense storm clouds, heavy wind, and lightening was reported in the area, and an air search operation has now been suspended for the night.
According to the Associated Press:
Aircraft searching for AirAsia Flight 8501 called off the effort for the night and will resume at Monday morning, said Achmad Toha of Indonesia's search and rescue agency. Some ships were continuing the search overnight, he said.
The plane took off Sunday morning from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, and was about halfway to its destination, Singapore, when it vanished from radar.
The last communication between the pilot and air traffic control was at 6:13 a.m. (2313 GMT Saturday), when the pilot 'asked to avoid clouds by turning left and going higher to 34,000 feet (10,360 meters).' It was last seen on radar at 6:16 a.m., and a minute later was no longer there, Djoko Murjatmodjo, Indonesia's acting director general of transportation, told reporters.
Agence France-Press reports that hundreds of Indonesians descended on the Juanda International Airport near Surabaya, East Java, on Sunday hoping for news of the missing flight.
AirAsia's Chief Executive Tony Fernandes, who has flown to Surabaya, told the BBC: "We don't want to speculate but right now of course the plane has been missing for 12 hours and there's a deep sense of depression here."
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
A jet carrying 162 people went missing early Sunday over the Java Sea. According to news reports, the AirAsia plane, an Airbus A320-200, was flying from Indonesia to Singapore and lost contact with air traffic control about 42 minutes after takeoff. No distress call was made.
Bad weather including dense storm clouds, heavy wind, and lightening was reported in the area, and an air search operation has now been suspended for the night.
According to the Associated Press:
Aircraft searching for AirAsia Flight 8501 called off the effort for the night and will resume at Monday morning, said Achmad Toha of Indonesia's search and rescue agency. Some ships were continuing the search overnight, he said.
The plane took off Sunday morning from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, and was about halfway to its destination, Singapore, when it vanished from radar.
The last communication between the pilot and air traffic control was at 6:13 a.m. (2313 GMT Saturday), when the pilot 'asked to avoid clouds by turning left and going higher to 34,000 feet (10,360 meters).' It was last seen on radar at 6:16 a.m., and a minute later was no longer there, Djoko Murjatmodjo, Indonesia's acting director general of transportation, told reporters.
Agence France-Press reports that hundreds of Indonesians descended on the Juanda International Airport near Surabaya, East Java, on Sunday hoping for news of the missing flight.
AirAsia's Chief Executive Tony Fernandes, who has flown to Surabaya, told the BBC: "We don't want to speculate but right now of course the plane has been missing for 12 hours and there's a deep sense of depression here."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy