An aircraft has reportedly crashed in the waters off East Belitung, off the east coast of Sumatra, after authorities confirmed that AirAsia Flight QZ8501 went missing earlier today.
The Bangka Pos news portal said there was no confirmation of the crash site.
"Pak Danlanud called Bapak Basuri to say that an Airbus aircraft had crashed in the Beltim waters," the portal quoted Yuhinu, the adjutant to the local authority chief Basuri T Purnama.
Beltim refers to Belitung Timur.
The flight with 155 on board had left Surabaya at 5.20am Indonesian time and was scheduled to land in Singapore at 8.30am Singapore time.
Western Indonesia is an hour behind both Malaysia and Singapore.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Singapore had activated its air force and navy to help in the search and rescue operation for the AirAsia jet.
"Two C130s are already on stand-by for this purpose. We remain ready to provide any assistance to support the search and rescue effort," the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said in a statement.
A waiting area, and facilities and support have been set up for relatives at Changi Airport Terminal 2, it said.
- TMI

No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.