WeatherFanatics: Storms to Persist in Search Zone for Missing AirAsia Plane

Monday, December 29, 2014

Storms to Persist in Search Zone for Missing AirAsia Plane

By Mark Leberfinger, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

December 29,2014; 10:23PM,EST

An AirAsia Indonesia flight from Surabaya to Singapore went missing on Sunday, local time, and a massive multi-nation search is underway. Thunderstorms will continue to hamper the effort at times.
Multiple media outlets, including CNN and Agence France-Presse, reported that an Indonesia transport official said Flight QZ8501 is likely at the bottom of the sea.
An emergency locator signal was detected south of Borneo, but the exact location couldn't be immediately pinpointed, an Indonesia Air Force spokesman told Reuters.
Air traffic controllers lost contact with Flight QZ8501 at 7:24 a.m. Sunday after takeoff from the Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, the airline said on its Facebook page.

There were thunderstorms along the flight path of the AirAsia flight that went missing en route to Singapore on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014.
The aircraft was on its submitted flight plan route and the pilot asked for permission from air controllers to fly at a higher altitude due to weather, Bloomberg.com cited Indonesian officials as saying.
It had been flying at an altitude of 9,753 meters (32,000 feet). The pilot asked to climb to 11,582 meters (38,000 feet).
Air controllers refused the request to go to a higher altitude because of another plane at that altitude but did allow a turn to the left, an Indonesia government official told Kompas, an Indonesia newspaper.
There were thunderstorms along the flight path, AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Dave Samuhel said.
"It's very active this time of year. December and January are the wettest times of the year in Indonesia," Samuhel said.
The storms in the area were capable of producing severe turbulence, strong wind shear, frequent lightning and icing, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.
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Wind shear is a rapid change in wind direction and speed over a short distance.
"It is for these reasons that pilots may request permission to deviate from their flightpath by going around or above the weather," Sosnowski said.

Search and rescue crews from Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia were searching for the aircraft on Monday after the search was suspended late Sunday due to darkness and more thunderstorms in the region.
The effort to figure out what happened will be hampered by more thunderstorms over the next few days.
Indonesia accepted Singapore's offer of two teams of specialists and two sets of underwater locator beacon detectors to assist in locating the flight data recorders of the missing aircraft, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said on its Facebook page.
Thunderstorms will continue to be scattered across the original flight path through the middle of the week, Sosnowski said.

The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with 162 people on board, AirAsia said in a statement.
The aircraft was delivered to AirAsia from the production line in October 2008, Airbus said in a statement. It had about 23,000 flight hours in nearly 13,600 flights.

A relative of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 passengers weeps as she waits for the latest news on the missing jetliner at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014. The AirAsia plane with 162 people on board lost contact with ground control on Sunday while flying over the Java Sea after taking off from the provincial city in Indonesia for Singapore. (AP Photo/Trisnadi)

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