https://www.scmp.com/rss/317337/feed Flight QZ8501 disappeared on Sunday, December 28, 2014 after taking off from Surabaya, Indonesia, at 5.35am. Less than an hour later at 6.17am it had lost all contact with air control. The flight was carrying 162 passengers and crew. A major search mission was launched in the Java Sea near to where the plane disappeared from radar screens. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Brought up with The Bard I was born in Singapore in 1972. Dad was a manager in a Malaysian bank, then the United Malayan Banking Corporation. Mum was a secretary at Singapore Airlines and they stayed in these jobs through­out their lives. I didn’t want to be anything particularly. The school that I went to (Singapore Chinese Girls’ School) was very strong in arts and humanities. Learning Shakespeare from nine years old onwards made us very articulate. Later I went to Anderson Junior College, and... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2117134/its-having-your-insides-ripped-out-singaporean?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2117134/its-having-your-insides-ripped-out-singaporean?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Oct 2017 05:17:41 +0000 Indonesia has called off the search for the remaining victims of the AirAsia plane crash in the Java Sea, officials said yesterday. All 162 people aboard the Airbus A320-200 died when it went down on December 28 while flying from Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, to Singapore. So far, 106 bodies have been recovered, with the last three pulled out from the underwater wreckage last week. Some bodies were found off Sulawesi, about 1,000km east of the crash site. Tatang Zainudin, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1741426/indonesia-ends-search-remains-airasia-crash-victims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1741426/indonesia-ends-search-remains-airasia-crash-victims?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2015 17:00:00 +0000 A system malfunction forced the pilots of an AirAsia X flight from Kuala Lumpur to Jeddah to abort the flight and return to Malaysia on Sunday, the AirAsia Group's CEO said. The incident sparked fresh questions on social media about the Malaysian airline group's safety record as it struggles with the aftermath of the loss of Flight QZ8501 in late December with 162 people on board. "One auto-thrust not functioning properly. Actually okay to fly but we just returning it to base," Tony Fernandes... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1707824/airasia-boss-seeks-allay-fears-flight-aborted-after-malfunction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1707824/airasia-boss-seeks-allay-fears-flight-aborted-after-malfunction?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Feb 2015 16:15:45 +0000 Indonesian divers have found a body believed to be the French co-pilot who was steering an AirAsia plane when it crashed in December with 162 people onboard, an official said today. SB Supriyadi. coordinator of the search and rescue effort, said the body was retrieved from the front part of the fuselage during a search operation on Friday. “It is likely the body of the French co-pilot, wearing uniform with three stripes on [the] shoulder,” he told AFP, adding that the body is still being held... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1705903/divers-may-have-found-body-french-co-pilot-airasia-crash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1705903/divers-may-have-found-body-french-co-pilot-airasia-crash?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Feb 2015 06:45:30 +0000 The captain of the AirAsia jet that crashed into the sea in December was out of his seat conducting an unorthodox procedure when his co-pilot apparently lost control. And by the time he returned it was too late to save the plane, two people familiar with the investigation said.  It was unclear what "unorthodox procedure" he was performing, but experts have said the captain may have decided to cut off a key computer system on the airplane, which would require the pilots looking to reset it to... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1697187/airasia-captain-left-his-seat-fatal-crash-java-sea-say-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1697187/airasia-captain-left-his-seat-fatal-crash-java-sea-say-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jan 2015 08:45:15 +0000 The pilots of AirAsia flight QZ8501 cut power to a critical computer system that normally prevents planes from going out of control shortly before it plunged into the Java Sea, two people with knowledge of the investigation said. The development comes as France opened a formal criminal investigation after it was found the French co-pilot was at the controls. The action appears to have helped trigger the events of December 28, when the Airbus climbed so abruptly it lost lift and it began falling... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1696730/airasia-pilots-cut-computers-crash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1696730/airasia-pilots-cut-computers-crash?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jan 2015 21:15:00 +0000 The French co-pilot of an AirAsia passenger jet that crashed last month was at the controls just prior to the accident, Indonesia's lead investigator said yesterday. Data from the black box flight data recorder has provided the accident probe with a "pretty clear picture" of what happened in the last moments of AirAsia Flight QZ8501, but officials offered few details. The Airbus A320 vanished from radar screens in bad weather on December 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1695150/french-co-pilot-remi-plesel-was-controls-doomed-airasia-jet-qz8501?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1695150/french-co-pilot-remi-plesel-was-controls-doomed-airasia-jet-qz8501?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jan 2015 19:19:41 +0000 Investigators probing the crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 are examining maintenance records of a key part of its automated control systems, and how the pilots may have handled the plane if it failed, two people familiar with the matter said. An outage of the twin Flight Augmentation Computers (FAC) could not have directly caused the December 28 crash, experts say, but without them the pilots would have had to rely on manual flying skills that are often stretched during a sudden airborne... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1693965/airasia-crash-investigators-focus-possible-computer-glitch-may-have-led?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1693965/airasia-crash-investigators-focus-possible-computer-glitch-may-have-led?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Jan 2015 03:15:15 +0000 The Indonesian military has called off efforts to recover the wreckage of an AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea last month, after failing to find any more bodies inside the fuselage. Flight QZ8501 went down on December 28 in stormy weather with 162 people on board, during what was supposed to be a short trip from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. Search and rescue teams failed repeatedly in recent days to lift the main body of the Airbus A320-200, where officials had hoped... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1693628/navy-ends-airasia-jet-recovery-efforts-92-bodies-still-missing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1693628/navy-ends-airasia-jet-recovery-efforts-92-bodies-still-missing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Jan 2015 21:34:40 +0000 Long-haul budget carrier Indonesia AirAsia Extra has delayed indefinitely the launch of its inaugural flight between Bali and Melbourne after failing to get the approval of Australian regulators, airline and airport officials said on Wednesday. Approvals were not forthcoming partly due to Australian concerns about Indonesia’s aviation safety record, especially after an Airbus plane operated by sister airline Indonesia AirAsia crashed last month, said a source familiar with the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1688941/indonesia-airasia-extra-inaugural-melbourne-flight-delayed-indefinitely?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1688941/indonesia-airasia-extra-inaugural-melbourne-flight-delayed-indefinitely?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jan 2015 03:15:30 +0000 Indonesian investigators may release some initial findings next week into last month’s crash of any AirAsia passenger jet that killed 162 people, but the full preliminary report will not be made public, a government official said on Wednesday. The Airbus A320-200 vanished from radar screens on December 28, less than halfway into a two-hour flight from Indonesia’s second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore. There were no survivors. Data from radar and the aircraft’s two “black box” flight... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1688304/indonesia-will-not-make-public-preliminary-airasia-crash-report-safety?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1688304/indonesia-will-not-make-public-preliminary-airasia-crash-report-safety?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jan 2015 06:00:15 +0000 An AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea last month with 162 people on board climbed at a faster than normal speed and then stalled, the Indonesian transport minister said on Tuesday. Flight QZ8501 went down on December 28 in stormy weather, during what was supposed to be a short trip from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. Indonesia’s meteorological agency has said bad weather may have caused the crash, and investigators are analysing the data from the jet’s black boxes before... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1683759/airasia-jet-climbed-too-fast-then-stalled-say-indonesian-officials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1683759/airasia-jet-climbed-too-fast-then-stalled-say-indonesian-officials?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jan 2015 14:26:54 +0000 A Singaporean navy ship on Wednesday located the main body of the AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea late last month, believed to be the resting place of most of the 162 victims. Flight QZ8501 crashed on December 28 in stormy weather during a short, routine flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. The discovery of the fuselage is the latest boost in a slow-moving search operation often hampered by bad weather. It followed the recovery this week of both the plane’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1679652/singapore-navy-locates-fuselage-missing-airasia-jet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1679652/singapore-navy-locates-fuselage-missing-airasia-jet?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jan 2015 11:00:27 +0000 Indonesian investigators began on Wednesday examining the black box flight recorders from the AirAsia passenger jet that crashed more than two weeks ago, and hope to unlock initial clues to the cause of the disaster within days. Divers retrieved the flight data and cockpit voice recorders this week from the sunken wreckage of flight QZ8501, which lost contact with air traffic control halfway into a two-hour flight from Indonesia’s second biggest city Surabaya to Singapore. All 162 people on... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1679604/indonesia-investigators-hope-black-box-recorders-will-offer-clues-airasia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1679604/indonesia-investigators-hope-black-box-recorders-will-offer-clues-airasia?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jan 2015 06:15:30 +0000 Divers retrieved the cockpit voice recorder from the wreck of the crashed AirAsia passenger jet on Tuesday, an Indonesian investigator said, in a key step towards determining the cause of the crash that killed 162 people. Indonesia AirAsia’s flight QZ8501 lost contact with air traffic control in bad weather on December 28, less than half way into a two-hour flight from Indonesia’s second-biggest city Surabaya to Singapore. There were no survivors. The cockpit voice recorder, which retains the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1678995/divers-retrieve-cockpit-voice-recorder-crashed-airasia-flight-qz8501?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1678995/divers-retrieve-cockpit-voice-recorder-crashed-airasia-flight-qz8501?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Jan 2015 02:15:30 +0000 The AirAsia plane that crashed two weeks ago in Indonesia probably "exploded" before hitting the water due to changes in air pressure, a senior government official said. "My analysis is, based on the wreckage found and other findings, the plane experienced an explosion before it hit the water," Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, operations coordinator at the National Search and Rescue Agency, told reporters. He said the left side of the plane seemed to have disintegrated, pointing to a change in... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1678922/airasia-plane-likely-exploded-hitting-water-official-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1678922/airasia-plane-likely-exploded-hitting-water-official-says?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jan 2015 17:00:30 +0000 Divers retrieved one black box on Monday and located the other from the AirAsia plane that crashed more than two weeks ago, a key development that will help investigators unravel what caused the aircraft to plummet into the Java Sea. The cockpit voice recorder was found just hours after officials announced that the flight data recorder had been pulled from beneath a piece of the aircraft’s wing and brought to the sea’s surface, said Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, operation coordinator for... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1678590/black-box-airasia-flight-recovered-seabed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1678590/black-box-airasia-flight-recovered-seabed?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Jan 2015 03:31:27 +0000 Divers have located the black box that holds flight and data recorders of the Indonesia AirAsia plane that crashed into the Java Sea on December 28 with 162 people on board, an Indonesian government official said Sunday. “The navy divers have found a very important object, the black box of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 under the depth of between 30 and 32 meters,” Tonny Budiono, team coordinator at the Directorate General for Sea Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation, said in a press... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1678489/divers-spot-black-boxes-crashed-airasia-jet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1678489/divers-spot-black-boxes-crashed-airasia-jet?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Jan 2015 13:34:10 +0000 US and Chinese warships have rushed to help Indonesia search for a crashed plane, but analysts say more than altruistic motivations are at play with world powers jostling for influence. On the surface, the sight of naval vessels from the world's strongest nations sailing close to one another in the Java Sea, with Russian military planes flying above, shows their willingness to unite in a time of disaster. But those nations are also cleverly using the disaster to project their militaries as a... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1678263/big-nations-aid-airasia-search-may-be-boost-their-soft-power-stance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1678263/big-nations-aid-airasia-search-may-be-boost-their-soft-power-stance?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Jan 2015 22:08:05 +0000 The downed AirAsia plane’s tail – the biggest piece of wreckage found so far from flight QZ8501 – has been lifted out of the water, but did not contain the black boxes crucial to solving why the plane crashed. The flight data and cockpit voice recorders were likely dislodged from the tail after the crash, said SB Supriyadi, an Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency director. Supriyadi said “faint pings” were detected about 1.6 kilometre southeast of the tail’s last location. The devices... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1678215/airasia-black-boxes-likely-detached-and-seabed-searchers-lift-out-crashed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1678215/airasia-black-boxes-likely-detached-and-seabed-searchers-lift-out-crashed?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Jan 2015 09:00:00 +0000 Indonesia search and rescue teams hunting for the wreck of the missing AirAsia passenger jet flight QZ8501 detected pings in their efforts to find the black box flight recorders on Friday, an official said, 12 days after the plane went missing with 162 people on board. Flight QZ8501 vanished from radar screens on December 28, less than half way into a two-hour flight from Indonesia’s second-biggest city of Surabaya to Singapore. There were no survivors. Forty-eight bodies, including at least two... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1677855/indonesia-says-pings-detected-search-airasia-jets-black-box?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1677855/indonesia-says-pings-detected-search-airasia-jets-black-box?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Jan 2015 04:15:30 +0000 Sources say a long-delayed proposal to outfit commercial airplanes with ejectable “black box” recorders may have a better chance of being adopted after the crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501, as Indonesian rescuers struggled to find the crucial recorders from a piece of wreckage on Thursday. National Search and Rescue Agency Chief Vice Marshal Bambang Soelistyo said divers began searching the downed plane’s tail section, which should contain the black boxes. But conditions that have hampered the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1676917/airasia-qz8501-crash-makes-stronger-case-using-ejectable-floating-black?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1676917/airasia-qz8501-crash-makes-stronger-case-using-ejectable-floating-black?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Jan 2015 09:45:45 +0000 Recovery teams have found the tail of the crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 in the Java Sea, the Indonesian search chief said on Wednesday, the eleventh day of relief operations. “We have successfully obtained part of the plane that has been our target. The tail portion has been confirmed found,” search and rescue agency chief Bambang Soelistyo told reporters in Jakarta. "I can confirm that what we found was the tail part from the pictures," he said, adding that the team "is still desperately... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1675988/tail-crashed-airasia-plane-found-says-indonesia-after-11-day-search?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1675988/tail-crashed-airasia-plane-found-says-indonesia-after-11-day-search?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Jan 2015 06:15:00 +0000 When fashion store owner The Meiji Thejakusuma bid goodbye to relatives before boarding AirAsia Flight 8501, she light-heartedly quipped she would “spend time alone at sea” on her birthday, which she planned to mark with a New Year cruise. Soon after, the plane crashed into waters off the island of Borneo. Her body was recovered from the Java Sea days later. Her nephew Eric Edi Santo, a cafe owner, recalled his aunt’s haunting last words during Thejakusuma’s vigil at a funeral home, attended by... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1674987/devastated-family-says-airasia-crash-victims-last-birthday-wish-ill-spend?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1674987/devastated-family-says-airasia-crash-victims-last-birthday-wish-ill-spend?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Jan 2015 07:45:30 +0000 An Indonesian naval patrol vessel found on Monday what the captain said could be the tail of the missing AirAsia jet, the section where the crucial black box voice and flight data recorders are located. Ships and aircraft seeking debris and bodies from the Airbus A320-200 widened their search area to allow for currents eight days after Flight QZ8501 plunged into the water en route from Indonesia’s second-biggest city Surabaya to Singapore with 162 people on board. “We found what has a high... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1674188/indonesia-naval-captain-says-may-have-located-missing-planes-tail-section?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1674188/indonesia-naval-captain-says-may-have-located-missing-planes-tail-section?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Jan 2015 10:05:59 +0000 The daughter of AirAsia flight QZ8501's captain made a televised plea urging people not to blame her father over the tragedy, as searchers resumed hunting for the wreckage and black boxes that would reveal why the plane crashed. “He is just a victim and has not been found yet. My family is now mourning,” said Angela Anggi Ranastianis, daughter of Indonesia AirAsia pilot Captain Iriyanto. “As a daughter, I cannot accept it. No pilot will harm his passengers,” she told TV One. When news broke of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1674120/fifth-object-detected-underwater-searchers-battle-currents-find-crashed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1674120/fifth-object-detected-underwater-searchers-battle-currents-find-crashed?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Jan 2015 03:15:45 +0000 Weather was the "triggering factor" in the crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 with icing likely causing engine damage, Indonesia's meteorological agency said, as divers found three bodies yesterday during a momentary respite from bad weather that has hampered rescue efforts. The Airbus A320-200 crashed into the Java Sea a week ago carrying 162 people from Indonesia's second city Surabaya to Singapore, and relief workers are hunting for the "black box" flight data recorders to determine the cause of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1674021/ice-might-have-caused-airasia-crash-indonesias-meteorological-agency-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1674021/ice-might-have-caused-airasia-crash-indonesias-meteorological-agency-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Jan 2015 20:30:00 +0000 The jet dropped from the sky swiftly, without a mayday call, and was quickly swallowed up by the waves. It took nearly two years to find the black boxes from Air France Flight AF447, but the Rio de Janeiro to Paris flight that fell into the Atlantic Ocean in the early hours of June 1, 2009, could offer insight into what may have gone wrong on AirAsia's Flight QZ8501. Both flights killed everyone on board, both were flying into storms and - in both cases - it seemed to the pilots of the Airbus... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1673376/airasia-flight-has-parallels-2009-french-jet-crash-ocean?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1673376/airasia-flight-has-parallels-2009-french-jet-crash-ocean?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Jan 2015 21:02:19 +0000 Weather was the “triggering factor” in the crash of AirAsia Flight 8501 into the Java Sea a week ago with 162 people on board, according to Indonesia’s meteorological agency. The Airbus A320-200 crashed during a storm en route from Indonesia’s second city Surabaya to Singapore. While search teams hunt for the aircraft's black boxes that will tell what happened to the plane in its last minutes, an initial report on the website of BMKG, Indonesia’s meteorological  agency, suggests the weather at... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1673379/airasia-did-not-have-permission-fly-doomed-surabaya-singapore-route?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1673379/airasia-did-not-have-permission-fly-doomed-surabaya-singapore-route?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Jan 2015 21:00:15 +0000 Indonesian and Singaporean search teams have located four "large parts" in the Java Sea which the search agency chief said late on Saturday are from the downed AirAsia flight QZ8501.  National Search and Rescue Agency Chief Vice Marshall Bambang Soelistyo told a press conference that the objects -- the largest of which is about 18 metres by 2.2 metres in size – were detected from Friday to Saturday by sonar from an Indonesian naval vessel, two Indonesian geological survey ships and Singaporean... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1673131/experts-use-listening-devices-airasia-plane-hunt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1673131/experts-use-listening-devices-airasia-plane-hunt?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Jan 2015 19:15:30 +0000 Seven more bodies were recovered today as specialist teams continued to search for the wreckage of AirAsia flight QZ8501, which disappeared on Sunday carrying 162 passengers and crew.  It brings the total confirmed dead to 16, according to Associated Press.  A helicopter from the USS Sampson brought the corpses to Pangkalan Bun, the town nearest to the site off Borneo. They were unloaded and driven off in ambulances. Rescuers hope the fuselage - if intact - will contain the remains of many of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1672880/french-black-box-search-team-arrives-airasia-crash-area-first-victim?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1672880/french-black-box-search-team-arrives-airasia-crash-area-first-victim?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Jan 2015 01:00:15 +0000 The aviation industry is good at getting passengers quickly from place to place, but does not move so fast when it comes to enacting regulations. The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March prompted calls for all aircraft to be equipped with satellite tracking systems and a UN agency backed the idea. Yet the same questions were again asked this week after AirAsia Flight 8501 vanished and was lost until wreckage and bodies were found two days later. For the sake of safety, allaying... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1672793/satellite-tracking-must-flights?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1672793/satellite-tracking-must-flights?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Jan 2015 17:00:15 +0000 Analysts have claimed the pilot of the crashed AirAsia flight may have made an emergency water landing, only for the plane to be overcome by high seas. The A320-200 left Surabaya, Indonesia early on Sunday and disappeared from radar over the Java Sea during a storm, but it failed to send the transmissions normally emitted when a plane crashes or is submerged. As search teams battled poor weather in the hunt for the black boxes, experts said the lack of transmissions suggested the experienced... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1672859/airasia-flight-may-have-made-water-landing-sinking-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1672859/airasia-flight-may-have-made-water-landing-sinking-analysts-say?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Jan 2015 16:30:45 +0000 Authorities revealed they have not heard any signals from the black boxes of downed flight AirAsia QZ8501 even as ships continued to probe the relatively shallow waters of the Java Sea for the wreckage. So far, just seven bodies and assorted debris such as suitcases and oxygen tanks have been recovered. Authorities today announced that they had identified one of the seven bodies as flight attendant Hayati Lutfiah Hamid. The search has focused on a large, dark object detected by sonar on the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1672645/airasia-plane-made-unbelievably-steep-climb-vanishing-says-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1672645/airasia-plane-made-unbelievably-steep-climb-vanishing-says-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Jan 2015 03:15:45 +0000 Radar data being examined by investigators appears to show the doomed AirAsia plane made an "unbelievably" steep climb before it crashed - possibly pushing it beyond the Airbus A320-200's limits, according to a source. The data was transmitted before flight QZ8501 disappeared from the screens of air traffic controllers in Jakarta on Sunday, according to the unnamed source. "So far, the numbers taken by the radar are unbelievably high. This rate of climb is very high, too high. It appears to be... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1672594/airasia-flight-made-unbelievably-steep-climb-crash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1672594/airasia-flight-made-unbelievably-steep-climb-crash?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Dec 2014 19:03:29 +0000 The sheer volume of flights in the skies over Southeast Asia is putting pressure on outdated air traffic control and on pilots to take risky unilateral action in crises such as that possibly faced by the AirAsia Flight QZ8501. Pilots who have flown the Indonesia to Singapore route say it's not unusual for delays to requests to increase altitude to avoid bad weather - and for requests to eventually be rejected due to the number of other planes in the area. That leaves pilots flying in a region of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1672557/crowded-skies-southeast-asia-put-pressure-pilots-air-traffic-control?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1672557/crowded-skies-southeast-asia-put-pressure-pilots-air-traffic-control?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Dec 2014 19:03:29 +0000 An Indonesian search and rescue official said today that none of the bodies recovered so far from the crashed AirAsia jet had been wearing a life jacket. "There is no victim that has been found wearing a life jacket," said Tatang Zaenudin, deputy head of operations at the national search and rescue agency. "We found a body at 8.20am and a life jacket at 10.32am so there was a time difference. This is the latest information we have," he added. The same official said earlier that one of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1671611/divers-set-search-airasia-wreckage-after-debris-bodies-found?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1671611/divers-set-search-airasia-wreckage-after-debris-bodies-found?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Dec 2014 01:30:00 +0000 Relatives of passengers on AirAsia flight QZ8501 began crying hysterically and fainting 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... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1671537/relatives-overcome-grief-and-anger-bodies-found-airasia-crash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1671537/relatives-overcome-grief-and-anger-bodies-found-airasia-crash?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Dec 2014 21:34:44 +0000 Air travel advocates are demanding global aviation authorities explain how the downed AirAsia jetliner with 162 people aboard took more than two days to locate when satellites and webcams monitor society's every move. "It should be impossible for an airliner to go missing" in an age when people can track their phones and cars to within a few metres, said Paul Hudson, president of Flyersrights.org and a member of a US Federal Aviation Authority rule-making advisory committee. The AirAsia pilots... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1671541/advocates-demanding-better-tracking-systems-light-time-it-took-find?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1671541/advocates-demanding-better-tracking-systems-light-time-it-took-find?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Dec 2014 21:34:44 +0000 Tearful Chinese relatives of those on board missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 said their torment has been awakened anew by the AirAsia loss in Indonesia, nine months into their nightmare. "It is just like what happened nine months ago when I heard the news of MH370," said Steven Wang, whose 57-year-old mother was on the flight that remains one of the biggest aviation mysteries ever. "I can feel the desperation that the next-of-kin are suffering now. It is terrible. It is horrible," he... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1671539/airasia-disaster-rekindles-memories-relatives-mh370-passengers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1671539/airasia-disaster-rekindles-memories-relatives-mh370-passengers?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Dec 2014 21:34:44 +0000 Search crews will today step up their hunt for the data recorders of doomed AirAsia flight QZ8501 as wreckage and bodies were spotted off Indonesia. The grim discoveries prompted raw scenes of emotion from sobbing relatives of the 162 people aboard. At least two family members fainted after watching television footage of a body floating in the sea. Indonesian President Joko Widodo last night praised the search teams and said three warships were on their way to the suspected crash... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1671593/relatives-overwhelmed-search-recovers-remains-near-where-missing-airasia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1671593/relatives-overwhelmed-search-recovers-remains-near-where-missing-airasia?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Dec 2014 17:45:15 +0000 More than 40 bodies have been recovered from the sea near to where AirAsia flight QZ8501 went missing, according to the Indonesian navy, which is helping lead the search. An Indonesian warship had recovered 40 “and the number is growing”, navy spokesman Manahan Simorangkir said. Officials coming off a search flight this afternoon said they had spotted several bodies, which were taken to a navy ship, while a spotter plane crew said they had seen a "shadow" on the seabed believed to be the missing... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1670659/search-area-ill-fated-airasia-flight-expanded-more-countries-send-ships?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1670659/search-area-ill-fated-airasia-flight-expanded-more-countries-send-ships?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Dec 2014 02:15:30 +0000 Unread emails, missed phone calls, an ailing grandfather - such were the mundane factors that may have saved the lives of passengers who missed catching Flight QZ8501 before it disappeared en route to Singapore. A passenger manifest showed that 26 people with tickets for the ill-fated flight did not board the AirAsia aircraft, which took off on Sunday from the central Indonesian city of Surabaya. Former beauty queen Anggi Mahesti was part of a family group of 10 who missed the plane because they... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1670611/unread-emails-helped-save-lives-26-passengers-who-failed-catch-missing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1670611/unread-emails-helped-save-lives-26-passengers-who-failed-catch-missing?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2014 19:35:13 +0000 The AirAsia incident will further dent investor confidence in Malaysia's troubled aviation sector, which has lost three commercial aircraft this year, analysts say, and affect the industry throughout the region. "This has never happened in the hundred-year long history of commercial aviation, to have three major tragedies so close to each other with the same geographical origination," said Mohshin Aziz, an analyst with Maybank, referring to the loss of two Malaysia Airlines flights with 537... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1670607/airasia-accident-another-blow-malaysian-aviation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1670607/airasia-accident-another-blow-malaysian-aviation?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2014 19:35:13 +0000 The disappearance of an AirAsia jetliner while flying over the Java Sea on Sunday is probably due to stormy weather, but there were also some unusual factors, some aviation experts speculated. Based on information known so far, the pilots of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 that was about an hour into the flight from Surabaya to Singapore informed ground traffic controllers they were taking the plane with 155 passengers aboard up to 11,600 metres from 9,800 metres amid bad weather. Aviation analysts said... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1670608/disappearance-airasia-flight-qz8501-likely-due-stormy-weather?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1670608/disappearance-airasia-flight-qz8501-likely-due-stormy-weather?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2014 19:35:13 +0000 China yesterday sent a warship to help in the search for the missing AirAsia plane, which a top official warned was probably at the bottom of the sea. International crews scouring Indonesian waters for missing Flight QZ8501 had focused on a possible patch of oil for clues. However, the supposed oil slicks were actually a chain of coral reefs, said Henry Bambang Soelistyo, the National Search and Rescue Agency chief. Australia, Singapore and Malaysia joined the Indonesia-led search as relatives... https://www.scmp.com/news/article/1670639/china-sends-warship-help-search-missing-airasia-flight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/article/1670639/china-sends-warship-help-search-missing-airasia-flight?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2014 17:30:45 +0000 Air safety standards have reached such heights that the possibility of a commercial flight not successfully landing on the runway is one in a billion. Probability is a purely intellectual pursuit, though, as the relatives and friends of the 162 people on board AirAsia flight QZ8501 only know too well. For them, statistics are meaningless; their emotions are running high with grief over the loss of loved ones. At such a fraught time, even a standard of 10 to the minus ninth is perhaps not good... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1670583/despite-tragedies-year-air-travel-still-safe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1670583/despite-tragedies-year-air-travel-still-safe?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2014 16:45:45 +0000 The loss of Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 would cap one of the deadliest years in civil aviation for almost a decade - yet experts say the industry's underlying safety record is improving. The statistics underscore a year of tragic contrasts dominated by two Malaysian catastrophes and a handful of weather-related incidents, yet a record-low number of crashes. Even before an Indonesia AirAsia Airbus 320 jet with 162 people on board went missing in bad weather on Sunday between the Indonesian... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1670606/2014-was-deadly-year-aviation-safety-record-improving?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1670606/2014-was-deadly-year-aviation-safety-record-improving?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2014 15:15:45 +0000 A Hong Kong resident was among the people onboard AirAsia Flight QZ8501 which disappeared off radar mid-flight to Singapore, triggering a frantic search in Indonesian seas. The Hong Kong Immigration Department confirmed to the South China Morning Post today that one of the passengers is a Hong Kong resident who holds a British passport. It is understood the man is 48-year-old Choi Chi-man, who was travelling with his two-year-old daughter Zoe. His wife, believed to be Singaporean, and older son... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1670467/hong-kong-resident-among-passengers-missing-airasia-flight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1670467/hong-kong-resident-among-passengers-missing-airasia-flight?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2014 07:15:45 +0000 An Indonesian family of 10 said they had a miraculous escape when they arrived too late to catch AirAsia Flight QZ8501. Christianawati, 36, said the 10 of them, who included her family, her mother and her younger brother’s family, were heading to Singapore to celebrate New Year. The six adults and four children were originally booked on the 7.30am flight but AirAsia moved them to Flight QZ8501 scheduled for two hours earlier. “They e-mailed and called us on December 15 and 16 to inform us, but... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1670451/ticketing-mistake-saved-family-10-boarding-vanished-airasia-flight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1670451/ticketing-mistake-saved-family-10-boarding-vanished-airasia-flight?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Dec 2014 06:45:30 +0000