Missing Plane Air Asia

originally posted by: Leonidas 2014 is one of the safest years in aviation history.

sky news disagrees;

a reply to: Zaphod58

According to Flightradar24 it went off radar at 23:12 UTC, though CAAS reported it as having no ATC contact from 00:24 UTC.

It would be interesting to know of the ATC contact during those 72 minutes. According to Indonesia Search and Rescue, the last known position was over the Gulf of Kumai.

a reply to: paradisepurple

The difference with those planes, and the one you were on is that they were not in the worst of the storm and could dodge as needed. A plane searching a fixed location has to be in the heart of the storm and stay there. And they have to be at wave top height to be able to see. So any kind of microburst, which is extremely common with these storms, or even a moments inattention by the pilot can result in hitting the water.

a reply to: opethPA

If I had loved ones on that flight and was told that no-one was searching because it's a. dark and b. bad weather, I would be going absolutely apes**t.

They should be searching, no excuses, in this day and age it should be done.. Is our technology so primitive? Oh hang on... we actually lost a jet in the first place.

a reply to: Phatdamage

Not compared to flight controls and radios. All aircraft have unpowered navigation aids be it a magnetic compass or what have you.

The transponder is far down the list of essential equipment. Navigation rates slightly higher but not a lot.

a reply to: paradisepurple

So you would have others die for your loved ones? Because that's exactly what you would be expecting.

a reply to: RoScoLaz4

No offence to Sky news, but the facts say otherwise.

news.aviation-safety.net...

originally posted by: paradisepurple
a reply to: opethPA

If I had loved ones on that flight and was told that no-one was searching because it's a. dark and b. bad weather, I would be going absolutely apes**t.

They should be searching, no excuses, in this day and age it should be done.. Is our technology so primitive? Oh hang on... we actually lost a jet in the first place.

That just isn't the way it works in the real world and technology isn't the reason why. In the end flying a plane or piloting a boat still comes down to the human element.

Lets say you force their hand and they search over night in bad weather..In the process of doing that another plane or 2 goes down while multiple fishing boats are lost..was it worth it?

a reply to: Zaphod58

Thanks Zaph for replying in a non-condescending manner. I think my rationality has gone out the window, this is just so frustrating.

a reply to: RoScoLaz4

Compared to recent years its not. Compared to previous years since they started collecting data, it is.

a reply to: Zaphod58

that makes sense,

It is still worrying how this plane went missing,

i feel for the families

a reply to: paradisepurple

I understand how it can be. It is frustrating, and I feel for the families.

a reply to: paradisepurple

And if you had any loved ones on the plane that would be an understandable reaction. The reality of the situation is though that the odds of finding the wreckage in the middle of the night while a storm is raging is near nil. At the same time you're more likely to create more widows and widowers.

Don't get me wrong..I feel for the families, it is total hell unlike anything I think we can imagine unless we are in that situation.
I also can understand the reasons why searches are always called off at night.
When you are searching for a lost plane, person, car or whatever it doesn't do anyone any good to risk losing more resources.

News reports state that Australia said it had a P3 Orion aircraft on standby, while others say that 3 P-3 Orions were dispatched, along with C-130. Conflicting reports.

The weather is terrible; however the P-3 Orion is a proven hurricane reconnaissance aircraft as well, and can take some very mean weather. The P-3's radar and FLIR systems are still very capable in bad weather and should be able to pick up debris quickly if the aircraft wound up in water. If a debris field is found then it also has the sonobuoy capability to help localize the flight recorders.

There is little hope for the poor crew and passengers if the plane hit the water at a steep angle, or broke up in flight. God be with them.

a reply to: paradisepurple

They're still searching, it's just limited because they can't get planes in there right now.

Way too many people have died, too much research has been done, and too many lessons have been learned as a result of accidents involving the microburst windshear that Zaph mentioned for any aircraft to knowingly launch into another one and lose their lives as well.

a reply to: Phatdamage

That's why it's so important to find it and solve it. To figure out why, and how to fix it.

a reply to: justwanttofly

Anything that can slap an L1011 out of the sky as easily as it did in Dallas, and there's no chance in hell you'll find my butt in a C-130 deliberately flying near it at low level.

a reply to: takers888



ETA

One sadly ironic connection between MH370 and QZ8501 comes from Air Asia’s in flight magazine. In April 2014, one month after MH370 went missing, AirAsia’s CEO was forced to apologize after the company suggested that AirAsia would never lose a plane.

Source

There appears to be a discrepancy in the times reported of no contact with ATC and Flightradar.

07:24 Jakarta time is 00:24 UTC, Flightradar is reporting it as being off radar at 23:12 UTC. Which is 72 minutes.

Another report suggested a 6 minute discrepancy and another no ATC contact time so there is some error somewhere in the reporting.

airwaysnews.com...

28 December 2014, 11:30am Local Time:- An Indonesia AirAsia aircraft, QZ8501, scheduled to arrive at 0830 hours local time from Surabaya, lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control at 0724 hours local time today. Singapore air traffic control was informed of this loss of contact at 0754 hours by Jakarta air traffic control. The aircraft was in the Indonesian Flight Information Region (FIR) when contact was lost, more than 200 nm southeast of the Singapore-Jakarta FIR boundary.
Search and rescue operations have been activated by the Indonesian authorities from the Pangkal Pinang Search and Rescue office.