Singapore has deployed a Lockheed Martin C-130 to assist Indonesia in the search for the missing Indonesia AirAsia Airbus A320.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) says the Indonesian government has accepted its offer to assist in the search for flight QZ8501, and that it has another C-130 from its fleet of five on standby.
Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency (Barsanas) says a sea search is ongoing, aided by ships from the Indonesian navy. Helicopters from the Indonesian air force have also been deployed.
Malaysia's transport minister Liow Tiong Lai tweeted that the country has set up a rescue coordination centre at Subang and is also deploying assets to aid search efforts led by Indonesia.
The precise search area and total assets deployed are not yet clear, with the aircraft missing for over 10 hours now. Visibility could hamper the efforts of SAR aircraft, especially with the onset of nightfall.
Indonesian officials have said the missing aircraft's last known coordinate was 03 09 15 S and 111 28 21 E. This coordinate places the last known location of the aircraft about 16nm south of
Flightglobal’s Ascend Fleets database shows that Singapore also has five Fokker F50 maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), while the Indonesian navy possesses six Airbus Military C212 MPAs, three CN235 MPAs, and over two dozen N22/24 Nomad MPAs.
Flight QZ8501 was operating the Surabaya-Singapore route when it lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24 Singapore time. There were 155 passengers and seven crew members on board the aircraft.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
