AirAsia flight QZ8501, which went missing yesterday, becomes the third Malaysian-linked aviation disaster following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on March 8 and the downing of flight MH17 on July 17.
Flight QZ8501, an Airbus 320, carrying 162 passengers and crew members, was en route from Surabaya to Singapore when it lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control at 6.17am. The search for the missing jet resumed this morning.
The AirAsia Indonesia plane’s loss has, however, triggered a sense of déjà vu for many Malaysians who are still mystified by the disappearance of MH370 more than nine months ago. (Malaysia-based AirAsia owns a 49% stake in AirAsia Indonesia.)
However, there are differences between the loss of QZ8501 and MH370.
* AirAsia deploys some of the youngest fleet in the business. The Airbus A320-200 which disappeared yesterday was delivered to its operator in 2008. It had recorded 23,000 flight hours on 13,600 flights, manufacturer Airbus said in a statement.
* MH370 disappeared on March 8 with 239 passengers and crew members on board en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The search for the Boeing 777-200 is ongoing in the Indian Ocean. The Boeing was 12 years old (delivered to MAS in 2002).
* The AirAsia group, including affiliates in Thailand, the Philippines and India, has not had a crash since its Malaysian operations began in 2002. Tan Sri Tony Fernandes built up AirAsia from two planes in 2001 to an airline industry titan that operates more than 180 jets today.
* AirAsia’s competitors like Malaysia Airlines and Indonesian carriers such as Lion Air and Garuda Indonesia have lost several planes in crashes over the last decade. Flight MH653, was a scheduled domestic flight from Penang to Kuala Lumpur crashed in Tanjung Kupang on December 4, 1977, killing all 93 passengers and seven crew members on board the Boeing 737-200.
Weather
* Flight QZ8501 had asked Jakarta air traffic to fly at a higher altitude of 11,500m from its original 9,750m to avoid cumulonimbus clouds. Experts say the weather around the Java Sea, where the AirAsia plane is presumed to have crashed, can be turbulent at this time of the year. There were reportedly lightning strikes along the Airbus’s route.
* Flight MH370 disappeared on a clear day and no unusual weather pattern on March 8. The last message from the cockpit was “Good night Malaysian three seven zero” recorded at 1.19am before the plane disappeared from radar screens while flying over the South China Sea.
Pilots
* Captain Iriyanto, the pilot of missing AirAsia flight QZ8501, had clocked 6,100 hours of flying time. Flying with him was first officer Remi Emmanual Plesel, who had logged 2,275 hours of flying time. Plesel is a French national.
* Flight MH370 Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah had logged 18,365 flying hours and joined MAS in 1981. Zaharie had also set up a Boeing 777 simulator in his home.
Communications
* No communication data from flight QZ8501 has been released by the Indonesian authorities.
* Flight MH370’s Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) was reportedly disabled. It was also reported that the aircraft's two communication systems were shut down separately and the aircraft followed a commonly used navigational route headed to the Indian Ocean.
As the aircraft headed towards the Middle East and Europe, it pinged satellites along the way for at least four hours.
Flight MH370’s whereabouts
* Global satellite company Inmarsat's raw tracking data on flight MH370 supports the conclusion that the aircraft had run out of fuel and crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. On March 14, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said MH370 had most likely ended its journey in the southern Indian Ocean.
* The search for MH370 is now centred on the Indian Ocean in an effort led by the Australia’s Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC). As at November 5, more than 3,000 square kilometres of the seafloor had been searched. – December 29, 2014.
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