Key developments in the disappearance of AirAsia jet

A look at the events that have unfolded since AirAsia Flight QZ8501 went missing in Indonesia.

An AirAsia jet with 162 people on board disappeared Sunday while flying from Indonesia’s second-largest city to Singapore on a scheduled two-hour flight. Here is a look at the key developments.

–– AirAsia Flight 8501 takes off from Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city, at 5:31am Sunday (2231 GMT Saturday), bound for Singapore.

–– The last communication between the pilot and air traffic control is made at 6:13am (2313 GMT Saturday), when the pilot asks to turn left and climb to 34,000 feet (10,360 metres) to “avoid clouds”, according to Djoko Murjatmodjo, Indonesia’s acting director general of transportation, who also said there was no distress signal from the cockpit.

–– AirAsia says the Airbus A320-200 was on the submitted flight plan route. Murjatmodjo says it is believed to have gone missing somewhere over the Java Sea between Tanjung Pandan on Belitung island and Pontianak, on Indonesia’s part of Borneo island.

–– A search and rescue operation is launched involving Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. Three Indonesian aircraft are dispatched to the area, while Singapore’s air force and navy search with two C-130 planes.

–– Dozens of relatives of people aboard the plane gather in a room at Surabaya airport to await word about their loved ones.

–– Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes, AirAsia’s chief executive, tweets: “Thank you for all your thoughts and prays. We must stay strong.” He later tweets to say he is heading to Surabaya.

* Associated Press