All Stakeholders to Search for Missing AirAsia Aircraft: Transportation Ministry

Jakarta (Antara) - All stakeholders are maximally searching for the missing AirAsia Flight No. QZ8501, stated the Indonesian transportation ministry's Acting Director General for Air Transportation Djoko Murdjatmojo. "Today, we continue to maximally search for the missing AirAsia Flight No. QZ8501 serving Surabaya (East Java)-Singapore route," Djoko Murdjatmojo noted in an interview with one of the private television stations here on Monday. He revealed that the sea, which is believed to be the last known location of the AirAsia aircraft, is a busy shipping lane. However, he was optimistic that the flow of ships will not hamper the search process. In addition, he hoped that the fishing boats could provide information to assist the search process. "We also hope that we can obtain information from the public," he remarked. In the meantime, Air Force spokesman Air Commodore Hadi Tjahjanto remarked that he had deployed five aircraft in coordination with the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas). A Boeing 737, Hercules 1323/C130, and a Puma helicopter HT-3310 were deployed as part of the search efforts. "The entire coordination of the search efforts is being handled by the Basarnas," he stated. According to him, the weather on Galang Island was clear when the Basarnas searched for the missing AirAsia aircraft on Sunday (December 28). However, he hoped that the weather conditions would continue to remain favorable to carry on the search operations. Hadi explained that the Boeing 737 aircraft was capable of flying to a height of about ten thousand feet, which enabled it to conduct monitoring of large areas. Earlier, the Indonesian transportation ministry's Acting Director General for Air Transportation Djoko Murdjatmojo stated that AirAsia Flight No. QZ8501 serving Surabaya (East Java)-Singapore route has lost contact at 6:17 a.m. local time. "The plane lost contact at 6:17 a.m. local time," Djoko noted in a press conference here on Sunday. Djoko revealed that the plane departed from Surabaya's Juanda Airport at 5:36 a.m. Western Indonesian Standard Time (WIB) to Singapore. He stated that the plane was originally located at an altitude of 32 thousand feet. The aircraft was piloted by Captain Iriyanto and First Officer (FO) Remi Emmanuel Plesel, and crew members comprising Wanti Setiawati, Khairunnisa Haidar Fauzi, Oscar Desano, Wismoyo Ari Prambudi, and technician Saiful Rakhmad. The aircraft had 155 passengers on board comprising 138 adults, 16 children, and an infant.(*)