WeatherFanatics: Thunderstorms in Vicinity as AirAsia Plane Goes Missing Between Indonesia and Singapore

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Thunderstorms in Vicinity as AirAsia Plane Goes Missing Between Indonesia and Singapore

By Mark Leberfinger, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

December 28,2014; 10:18PM,EST

An AirAsia Indonesia flight from Surabaya to Singapore went missing on Sunday, local time, and a massive multi-nation search is underway.
Multiple media outlets, including CNN and Agence France-Presse, are reporting that an Indonesia official said Flight QZ8501 is likely at the bottom of the sea.
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, 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.

There were thunderstorms along the flight path of the AirAsia flight that went missing en route to Singapore on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014.
Search and rescue crews from Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia were searching for the aircraft on Sunday. However, the search for the missing passenger jet was suspended on Sunday night due to darkness and as thunderstorms erupted in the region once again.
Thunderstorms will continue to be scattered across the original flight path through the middle of the week. Search and rescue efforts resumed Monday morning local time amid a break in the stormy weather conditions.
The conditions in the area look fairly tranquil, Samhuel said.

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).
According to AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski, "The storms in the area were capable of producing severe turbulence, strong wind shear, frequent lightning and icing."

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 added.
The aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with 162 people on board, AirAsia said in a statement.
AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes said he was on his way to Surabaya where many of the passengers live.
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.
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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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