It’s nearly 8.30pm in Surabaya, and all search efforts for today are now over, so we’re ending this live blog. Here’s our latest story on what happened today, by my colleagues Jonathan Kaiman, Paul Farrell and Michael Safi:
Teams searching for AirAsia flight QZ8501 have begun recovering dozens of bodies from the Java Sea, as Indonesian officials confirmed that scattered debris found nearby came from the plane.
A major search and rescue effort involving at least 30 ships and 15 aircraft from nine countries has been looking for the aircraft since it vanished early on Sunday morning while carrying 162 people from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore. The findings mark a major breakthrough on the operation’s third day.
The flight’s carrier, AirAsia Indonesia, an affiliate of the Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia, confirmed in a statement posted on Facebook that the debris belonged to the missing flight.
“I am absolutely devastated,” AirAsia’s chief executive, Tony Fernandes, said, according to the statement. “This is a very difficult moment for all of us at AirAsia as we await further developments of the search and rescue operations but our first priority now is the wellbeing of the family members of those on board QZ8501.”
The Indonesian television station TvOne reportedly broadcast images of a floating body, then apologised for showing the pictures after relatives of passengers in Surabaya saw the images on television and burst into tears.
AFP reported that at least two relatives collapsed and had to be carried out on stretchers. “My heart will be totally crushed if it’s true. I will lose a son,” 60-year-old Dwijanto told the news agency.
The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, arrived in Surabaya after nightfall to meet the families.
While the search area is now under darkness more photos are emerging of the items removed from the sea so far. These include oxygen bottles, a plane’s emergency slide, and a blue suitcase. Search officials have been briefing reporters at the scene about all this, though we have yet to hear any new details.
Widodo mentioned his thanks to other nations which have helped. Here’s a photo of Singaporean personnel taking part.
Joko Widodo, Indonesia’s president, has addressed the media in Surabaya. He said that all available ships and planes would be deployed, with the aim of recovering the bodies of the passengers and crew as quickly as possible. He also expressed thanks to the search teams involved, and to other nations which had helped.
Indonesia’s search and rescue authorities are holding a press conference. According to the live translation on BBC News, it is believed the wreckage of the plane is in water between 20m and 25m deep. The TV footage has now cut away - it seems the country’s president, Joko Widodo, is speaking imminently in Surabaya.
AirAsia confirms debris is from flight QZ8501
AirAsia has just posted this Facebook update, confirming that the wreckage found in the Java sea is from its plane.
AirAsia Indonesia regrets to inform that the National Search and Rescue Agency Republic of Indonesia (BASARNAS) today confirmed that the debris found earlier today is indeed from QZ8501, the flight that had lost contact with air traffic control on the morning of 28th.
The debris of the aircraft was found in the Karimata Strait around 110 nautical miles south west from Pangkalan Bun. The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC. There were 155 passengers on board, with 137 adults, 17 children and 1 infant. Also on board were 2 pilots, 4 cabin crews and one engineer.
At the present time, search and rescue operations are still in progress and further investigation of the debris found at the location is still underway. AirAsia Indonesia employees have been sent to the site and will be fully cooperating with BASARNAS, National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC), and relevant authorities on the investigation.
Sunu Widyatmoko, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Indonesia said: “We are sorry to be here today under these tragic circumstances. We would like to extend our sincere sympathies to the family and friends of those on board QZ8501. Our sympathies also go out to the families of our dear colleagues.”
Tony Fernandes, Group Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia added: “I am absolutely devastated. This is a very difficult moment for all of us at AirAsia as we await further developments of the search and rescue operations but our first priority now is the wellbeing of the family members of those onboard QZ8501.”
AirAsia Indonesia will be inviting family members to Surabaya, where a dedicated team of care providers will be assigned to each family to ensure that all of their needs are met. Counsellors, religious and spiritual personnel have also been invited to the family center to provide any necessary services.
Further information will be released as soon as it becomes available. An emergency call centre has been established and available for families seeking information. Family members of QZ8501, please contact:
Malaysia: +60 3 21795959
Indonesia: +62 2129270811
Singapore: +65 63077688
Korea: 007 98142069940
Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families and friends of our passengers and colleagues on board QZ8501.
The presumed wreckage of flight QZ8501 is lying in relatively shallow water, at a depth of around 40m, making it relatively easy to access. This makes it fairly likely that the plane’s so-called black box flight recorders will be located, greatly assisting efforts to discover what happened.
This video from September goes through what is contained on the two recorders and how they are housed within a modern airliner.
News has come in via Twitter of another – though thankfully far less serious – incident involving an AirAsia flight. A journalist on board a flight to Kalibo, a city on Panay island in the Philippines, has tweeted reports and photos after her flight seemingly overshot the runway while landing in bad weather.
Jet Damazo-Santos said people were evacuated via emergency slides, but no one appeared to have been hurt. The Philippines is currently being battered by a tropical storm, which has killed at least 29 people.
Engine was shut immediately, we were told to leave bags, deplane asap. Firetruck was waiting. Seems handled well. pic.twitter.com/fjY0idESNM
— Jet Damazo-Santos (@jetdsantos) December 30, 2014
Nobody seems to be hurt. Weather was bad because of #senangph Plane came to a very abrupt stop
— Jet Damazo-Santos (@jetdsantos) December 30, 2014
Airasia plane overshot runway at kalibo pic.twitter.com/6E4hWUJbS0
— Jet Damazo-Santos (@jetdsantos) December 30, 2014
Had to deplane using emergency slide pic.twitter.com/tNg3rzEbPT
— Jet Damazo-Santos (@jetdsantos) December 30, 2014
Just landed in kalibo on an AirAsia flight that overshot runway
— Jet Damazo-Santos (@jetdsantos) December 30, 2014
Updated
My colleague Paddy Allen has put together this useful graphic showing the plane’s flight path, last reported position, and where the debris has been spotted.
Some of the presumed debris from flight QZ8501 has already been brought to shore.
It’s now dusk in the search area, so there are unlikely to be many more significant updates from there today. Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, is reportedly on his way to Surabaya, and is expected to meet grieving relatives and possibly hold a press conference later.
More on the bodies recovered from the sea. AFP quotes Manahan Simorangkir, an Indonesian navy spokesman, as saying more than 40 have now been removed, “and the number is growing”.
AFP has more on the distressing scenes among relatives in Surabaya, the departure point for the flight, when television news showed images of bodies in the water:
Relatives of passengers on AirAsia flight QZ8501 began crying hysterically and fainting Tuesday as Indonesian television footage showed a body floating in the sea during aerial searches for the plane.
At least two distraught family members were carried out on stretchers from the room where they had been waiting for news in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city - the take-off point for the aircraft that disappeared during a storm on Sunday.
“My heart will be totally crushed if it’s true. I will lose a son,” 60-year-old Dwijanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP...
As the first body was shown floating in the water on rolling television news, relatives burst into tears and hugged one another amid cries for more ambulances, said an AFP reporter at the scene.
One man covered his face and had to be held up by two other men before he fainted and was taken out by stretcher. Another woman was screaming and crying as she was supported by the mayor of Surabaya.
A female AirAsia officer shouted at the television media for showing footage of a floating body, while about 200 journalists were barred from the room holding the families, the windows of which were boarded up.
“Is it possible for you not to show a picture of the dead? Please do not show a picture of a dead body,” said the officer. “That’s crazy.”
Given the relatively shallow waters of the Java Sea, the search operation can be carried out by divers – they are on their way to the scene.
More than 40 bodies retrieved: Indonesian navy
AFP has this update.
#BREAKING: More than 40 bodies retrieved in AirAsia search: Indonesian navy
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) December 30, 2014
Updated
Indonesian search and rescue officials have confirmed that more than one body has been found in the sea, while a navy spokesman said teams had so far recovered one body, plus a plane door and oxygen tanks.
Reuters describes the scene at a centre for relatives in Surabaya when TV footage of a floating body was broadcast:
Pictures of floating bodies were broadcast on television and relatives of the missing gathered at a crisis centre in Surabaya wept with heads in their hands. Several people collapsed in grief and were helped away, a Reuters reporter said.
“You have to be strong,” the mayor of Surabaya, Tri Rismaharini, said as she comforted relatives. “They are not ours, they belong to God.”
Updated
A sign of the likely next stage of the operation – body bags being loaded onto a plane.
The photo wires are also now running a series of pictures showing weeping and distraught relatives of those who were on the flight, at Juanda airport in Surabaya, Indonesia, after they were told the debris located was almost certainly that of flight QZ8501, and after they saw the TV footage of a body in the sea. Again, for obvious reasons, we won’t use these images, but they emphasise the appalling distress this news has caused.
Photo agencies are running a series of video stills showing a body floating in the sea where the debris has been found, and a man being winched down to recover it. For obvious reasons we won’t run such images, but they do appear to be further confirmation that the crash site has been located. Another photo shows body bags being loaded onto one of the search planes – a grisly task awaits the recovery teams.
This is Peter Walker taking over.
AFP are running more quotes from Bambang Soelistyo, the head of Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency. He says, crucially, that planes have apparently spotted a “shadow” on the sea bed which could be the missing airliner. He told a press conference:
God blessed us today. At 12:50 the air force Hercules found an object described as a shadow at the bottom of the sea in the form of a plane.
Soelistyo said the search was now being concentrated on the location where the “shadow” and debris had been found, around 100 miles southwest of Pangkalan Bun, a town in Central Kalimantan on Borneo island. He added:
All elements in the areas and search and rescue personnel will be moved to the location.
Summary
I’ll be handing over our rolling coverage of the search for AirAsia flight QZ8501 now to colleague Peter Walker in London. Here’s a short summary of events as they stand now:
- Indonesian search officials confirmed on Tuesday they had found debris from the missing AirAsia plane. Acting director general of civil aviation Djoko Murjatmodjo has told Agence France-Presse that it has been confirmed debris found is from the missing plane.
- The Indonesian search and rescue agency BASARNAS has now deployed divers and teams to the location the debris was found. A series of images have been published of a range of objects spotted in the Java Sea.
- AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes said he will be flying to Surabaya and that AirAsia would be assisting in any way possible. Events are continuing to unfold today as the operation to retrieve debris continues.
Some graphic images were recently broadcast on the Indonesian news outlet TvOne. The outlet reportedly broadcast images of what appeared to be bodies.
TvOne has apologised for broadcasting the images.
Following the announcement by Indonesian search officials AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes has announced he will be travelling to Surabaya:
I am rushing to Surabaya. Whatever we can do at Airasia we will be doing.
— Tony Fernandes (@tonyfernandes) December 30, 2014
My heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in QZ 8501. On behalf of AirAsia my condolences ... http://t.co/OJGobL93cR
— Tony Fernandes (@tonyfernandes) December 30, 2014
Indonesian officials believe debris found in Java Sea is from AirAsia flight
The Acting director general of civil aviation Djoko Murjatmodjo has told Agence France-Presse that it has been confirmed debris found is from the missing plane:
For the time being it can be confirmed that it’s the AirAsia plane and the transport minister will depart soon to Pangkalan Bun,” Djoko Murjatmodjo said.
“Based on the observation by search and rescue personnel, significant things have been found such as a passenger door and cargo door.”
“It’s in the sea, 160 kilometres southwest of Pangkalan Bun,” he said, referring to the town in Central Kalimantan on the island of Borneo.
Here’s more of what Reuters are reporting from the press conference that search officials just held:
Indonesia’s search and rescue agency chief said on Tuesday he was 95 percent certain debris sighted off Indonesia’s Kalimantan coast was part of the AirAsia jet presumed to have crashed two days ago.
An Airbus A320-200 carrying 162 people and operated by Indonesia AirAsia disappeared in poor weather early on Sunday during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
“I am 95 percent sure that the location pictured is debris suspected to be from the aircraft,” Indonesia Search and Rescue Agency chief Soelistyo told reporters.
The Jakarta Post is also reporting some of the quotes from the transport ministry’s acting director general Djoko Murjatmodjo. They are reporting that he has confirmed the debris is from a plane:
“It has been confirmed that it is debris from an aircraft bearing red and white colors,” Djoko said, citing that the debris was found by the ministry’s rescue team.
“The recovery process will now be centered in the debris location in coordination with Basarnas [the National Search and Rescue Agency],” he continued.
Channel NewsAsia correspondent Steve Lai has been posting these updates from the press conference:
Vessels on their way with dive teams to the site where debris was spotted. pic.twitter.com/Tw5G6tP2bK
— Steve Lai (@stevelai) December 30, 2014
"Depth of sea under debris found is 25m-30m. Divers will be brought in. If more equipment is needed it will be brought in." #QZ8501
— Steve Lai (@stevelai) December 30, 2014
Basarnas chief #QZ8501 "11 divers are being prepared and they will be deployed immediately"
— Steve Lai (@stevelai) December 30, 2014
Indonesian search chief says debris is likely to be from plane
The Indonesian search agency has just finished a press conference held in Bahasa with local media. At this stage, Reuters has issued this brief alert on what transpired:
Indonesian search and rescue agency chief says 95% sure debris off Kalimantan coast is from missing AirAsia jet.
There are reports emerging that the Indonesian search authorities are about to give a press conference about the objects found. The maritime body BASARNAS appears to be about to begin a press conference
Basarnas Pusat adakan jumpa pers di kantor Kemayoran, Jakarta. #QZ8501 streaming http://t.co/IJGJU0xqr9 pic.twitter.com/dQtZae4NSM
— BeritaSatu TV (@BeritasatuTV) December 30, 2014
Red and white debris sighted off Indonesia’s Kalimantan coast is likely to be part the AirAsia jet presumed to have crashed in shallow waters off the Indonesian coast, a transportation ministry official cited by Reuters said on Tuesday.
“The debris is red and white,” Djoko Murjatmodjo, acting director general of air transportation at the transportation ministry, told reporters. “We are checking if it’s debris from the aircraft. It’s probably from the body of the aircraft.”
Based on the size and colouring of the debris, it was likely to be part of the missing jet, Murjatmodjo added.
Helicopters are preparing to go and examine the location as soon as weather permits, he said.
Now I’m handing over to my colleague Paul Farrell, who will take you through the next few hours.
Updated
The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Ng is reporting that Indonesian officials believe the debris is from a plane but cannot confirm it belongs to the missing AirAsia flight.
UPDATE: Indonesia Civil Aviation Director General says couldn't confirm debris is from missing AirAsia #QZ8501
— Jason Ng (@ByJasonNg) December 30, 2014
.@andrea_lazaro He confirms debris from a plane, but couldn't confirm it's #QZ8501
— Jason Ng (@ByJasonNg) December 30, 2014
Updated
Here are some higher resolution photos of three of the pieces of debris that Indonesian official say might belong to the missing AirAsia flight.
Indonesia Search and Rescue are saying the debris is possibly linked to the missing AirAsia plane, the AP reports.
Updated
Here’s a closer look at one of the pieces of debris that’s been spotted.
Photo taken from an Indonesian aircraft over the Java Sea shows possible plane debris from the missing AirAsia flight pic.twitter.com/vh7mvBqdgZ
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) December 30, 2014
Updated
Items resembling emergency slide, plane door spotted
Indonesian officials say that items resembling an emergency slide and plane door have been seen in the search for AirAsia flight QZ8501, according to Agence-France Presse.
“We spotted about 10 big objects and many more small white-coloured objects which we could not photograph,” Indonesian air force official Agus Dwi Putranto told a press conference.
“The position is 10 kilometres (six miles) from the location the plane was last captured by radar,” he said.
He displayed 10 photos of objects resembling a plane door, emergency slide, and a square box-like object.
“It is not really clear... it could be the wall of the plane or the door of the plane,” he said.
“Let’s pray that those objects are what we are really trying to find,” he said in Pangkalan Bun in Central Kalimantan on the island of Borneo.
An AFP photographer on the same flight that spotted the debris said he had seen objects in the sea resembling a life raft, life jackets and long orange tubes.
Updated
Indonesian television is broadcasting images which they say show items resembling an emergency slide and plane door.
#AirAsia flight #QZ8501: Pieces of debris found at sea (Dec 30) http://t.co/Z5YEmms1Ma pic.twitter.com/Uvknp4FbxU
— The Straits Times (@STcom) December 30, 2014
As we await more on this suggestion that Indonesia officials have seen items resembling an emergency slide and plane door, here’s the full search area, posted by CNN’s Asia Pacific editor, Andrew Stevens.
Search area just posted by Indonesia officials. 13 zones covering 156,000 sq km, says BASARMAS pic.twitter.com/fWOk7AMvRq
— Andrew Stevens (@andrewcnn) December 30, 2014
#BREAKING Items resembling emergency slide, plane door seen in search for AirAsia flight #QZ8501: Indonesia
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) December 30, 2014
Tomorrow families will be flown from Surabaya to Belitung island, airport chief announces #QZ8051 pic.twitter.com/YBHBK39YxU
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) December 30, 2014
Relatives will be flown over search area on Wednesday on specially chartered Airbus 320 #QZ8051
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) December 30, 2014
'They believe their presence, their praying will help the search & rescue to quickly find aircraft' - AirAsia Indonesia chief #QZ8051
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) December 30, 2014
Australia has added an extra plane in its contribution to the search for the AirAsia flight that went missing in bad weather in the Java Sea with 162 people on board, AAP reports.
Two RAAF P3 Orion planes with specialist search equipment are now part of the international search to find AirAsia flight QZ8501 that disappeared on Sunday morning.
Their search is focused to the west of the island of Kalimantan, the foreign minister, Julie Bishop, says.
Bishop wouldn’t comment on reports the RAAF had spotted debris and an oil slick during its search on Monday.
“I’m sure there will be sightings of all sorts of debris in the ocean, but we will wait until there’s actual confirmation of the plane sighting before we make any official comment on that,” she said in Adelaide on Tuesday.
The two planes are part of a broader offer of support from the Australian government to Indonesian authorities.
Updated
How is it possible in 2014 to lose an enormous commercial jet? Why aren’t black boxes feeding information about a plane’s whereabouts constantly into the cloud? Aviation journalist Mary Kirby has tried to answer these questions and more in a post on her excellent website, Runway Girl Network.
How is it possible that Indonesia’s acting director general of transportation Djoko Murjatmodjo, in referencing the search for QZ8501 in the Java Sea, is quoted as saying, “We hope we can find the location of the plane as soon as possible, and we hope that God will give us guidance to find it.”
It beggars belief that one would rely on divine intervention to find an aircraft in an age of constant and ubiquitous data connectivity. Let’s not forget that, if an aircraft accident is survivable, knowing the precise whereabouts of the aircraft can be a matter of life or death for its occupants.
Many people hoped that these sorts of questions would be answered when the International Air Transport Association (IATA) convened an expert industry Aircraft Tracking Task Force (ATTF) in the wake of the tragic and mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370.
But the ATTF’s recommendations to the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), tabled earlier this month, are lukewarm at best. A jetliner’s Aircraft Condition Monitoring System (ACMS) and Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) together already support limited real-time flight data monitoring on many – though certainly not all – aircraft today, so the ATTF recommended that airlines in the short-term “make use of what is already available in their fleets and areas of operations” and “look at the business case for upgrading equipment” to meet performance criteria outlined by the ATTF.
The chief of Malaysia’s navy, Abdul Aziz Jaafar, is tweeting updates of the painstaking search for signs of the QZ8501.
#QZ 8501: KD Lekir telah memasuki Sektor sejak 0700. Sedang menuju Sektor 2. KD Pahang masih mencari di Sektor 1. pic.twitter.com/uvDmLkt28I
— Abdul Aziz Jaafar (@ChiefofNavy) December 30, 2014
Here he writes that the KD Lekir is heading for sector II. The KD Pahang remains in sector I.
Tom Phillips, from the UK Telegraph, has snapped a picture showing all 13 sectors being searched today, up from the seven that were scoured on Monday.
Today's expanded search areas have just been posted at Surabaya airport #QZ8501 pic.twitter.com/wL4aXU2J9b
— Tom Phillips (@tomphillipsin) December 30, 2014
Updated
Fairfax Media’s Indonesia correspondent Michael Bachelard is reporting that Indonesia is delaying plans to execute several prisoners before the end of the year. The decision follows the high level of global attention to the country with the disappearance of the AirAsia plane:
With the eyes of the world watching Indonesia during the search for the missing AirAsia plane, the country’s attorney-general has quietly delayed plans to execute five or six prisoners before the new year.
Attorney-General H.M. Prasetyo said on Monday: “It’s now December 29, only two days left [until the end of 2014] — you can count for yourself”.
As late as December 26, Vice-President Jusuf Kalla insisted that at least two prisoners — both convicted of premeditated murder — would be executed by year’s end.
Two days later, AirAsia flight QZ8501 went missing and all eyes turned to Indonesia.
The Indonesian search team is investigating reports of smoke near Long Island in the Java Sea, according to CBS News. More on their latest report here:
The search has resumed for the missing AirAsia Flight 8501 plane that is believed to have crashed into Indonesia’s Java Sea, Sunday morning. Searchers continued looking for the aircraft Tuesday, with the search area widened in hopes of finding the airliner and its 162 passengers.
Dr Max Ruland, Director of Operations for the search and rescue mission, confirmed to CBS News that two Cessna jets have been dispatched to check on reports of smoke on an island in the search zone, which is larger than the state of California.
Any sighting of smoke in the search is not necessarily linked to the missing plane, and should be treated with caution at this stage. Aviation journalist John Walton offered an alternative explanation for the smoke sighting:
Multiple unconfirmed reports of smoke in #QZ8501 search area. Caveat: burning forests for paper production is common this time of year.
— John Walton (@thatjohn) December 30, 2014
Hopes were raised late on Monday after aerial surveys spotted patches of oil off the Indonesian coast. Nothing came of the sighting, and the South China Morning Post is reporting that the slicks were actually a chain of coral reefs.
A emergency locator signal was also detected on Monday - and later lost. Debris was found in one of the search areas, too, but investigators concluded it had nothing to do with the missing flight.
Updated
United States navy to join search
Here’s confirmation from the US navy that the USS Sampson has been authorised to join the search for the missing AirAsia flight, via my colleague Oliver Milman.
At the request of the Government of Indonesia and as directed by U.S. Pacific Command, U.S. Pacific Fleet has authorized U.S. 7th Fleet to position USS Sampson (DDG 102) in the general search area for missing Air Asia Flight QZ8501 to support search operations.
Authorities in the region continue to lead the search and rescue effort. The U.S. Navy is working closely with the government of Indonesia to identify additional surface or airborne capabilities that best assist their search efforts. USS Sampson is scheduled to be on the scene later today.
USS Sampson is homeported in San Diego and is in the midst of an independent deployment to the Western Pacific.
Updated
The USS Sampson is on its way to the Java Sea to assist in the search for the missing AirAsia plane, according to a senior U.S. military official cited by CNN.
Crews from New Zealand and South Korea will also join in today’s search, meaning a total of nine countries are now involved in the effort. They will be scanning four news zones today, in addition to the seven that were searched on Monday.
USS Sampson (http://t.co/n3hyhSiC3A) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer; can hold two Sea Hawk helicopters. #QZ8501 pic.twitter.com/asB86Sd08c
— John Walton (@thatjohn) December 29, 2014
Updated
Tony Fernandes, the chief executive of AirAsia, is prolific on social media and has remained so throughout this tragedy.
Been one of my toughest days. Spent a large part of day meeting families of passangers. Doing whatever we can.
— Tony Fernandes (@tonyfernandes) December 29, 2014
I also met the families of my crew and pilots. Not been able to see 3 families. Engineer, fo and one crew.
— Tony Fernandes (@tonyfernandes) December 29, 2014
The relatives of my crew were inspirational and so moving. Their support and love for Airasia was unbelievable. Gave me huge strength.
— Tony Fernandes (@tonyfernandes) December 29, 2014
Updated
An Indonesian student studying in Melbourne is believed to be among the passengers on missing AirAsia flight QZ8501, it has emerged.
Kevin Alexander Soetjipto, from Malang in east Java, was studying finance at Monash university’s Clayton campus, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was due to graduate next year.
Soetjipto was travelling with his family from Surabaya to Singapore.
Monash spokeswoman Stacey Mair said the university was still seeking official confirmation from authorities that one of its students was on board.
“We are deeply saddened to learn this news in relation to one of our valued student community,” she told AAP.
Updated
Aircraft accidents are at a historic low, but the likely loss of 162 lives aboard QZ8501 mean 2014 will be the deadliest year for commercial airline passengers since 2005, my colleague Nick Evershed reports.
According to various databases, employing different methodologies, the rate of aircraft accidents has fallen dramatically since the 1960s; so too has the rate of fatalities per million departures. As a number of aviation journalists have been at pains to point out this year, flying remains one of the safest ways to travel - far safer than hurtling through the air in a metal tube with wings ought to be.
What’s notable about this year is the lethality of the accidents - which as this chart shows, has shot up to levels not seen since 1985. On average, each accident this year has taken more than 35 lives.
International search effort set to expand
The huge international search for missing AirAsia QZ8501 is set to expand on Tuesday as France, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and China all sent ships and aircraft to join the operation off the Indonesian coast, write Jonathan Kaiman and Caroline Davies.
At least 15 ships, seven aircraft and four helicopters searched on Monday for any signs of the Airbus A320-200, which vanished from radar screens on Sunday morning with 162 people on board as it approached violent weather about 40 minutes into a two-hour flight between Surabaya, in east Java, and Singapore.
An Indonesian search rescue official said the plane was presumed to be “at the bottom of the sea”. No wreckage has been found. Weather was impeding search efforts, with rough waves decreasing visibility on the water and intermittent rain clouds obscuring the waves from above.
Welcome to our coverage of the search for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501, which disappeared almost 48 hours ago above the Java Sea around 42 minutes after leaving Surabaya, Indonesia, for Singapore.
Hopes that the 162 passengers aboard the plane will be found safe have now faded, with Indonesian officials conceding the aircraft likely crashed in violent weather and sank to the bottom of the area’s shallow waters.
Monday’s search for signs of the plane was ultimately fruitless, and today’s effort has been expanded to include ships and aircraft from France and China. They will join crews from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore. Indonesia has asked the UK, US and France for sonar technology and underwater search assistance.
We’ll be following developments in the search closely over the next few hours. It is set to recommence at first light - in around 30 minutes.
