An AirAsia flight from Indonesia to Singapore is missing, the airline said in a statement.
"AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24 hrs this morning," the airline said in a statement.
There are 162 people aboard the Airbus A320-200, Hadi Mustofa, an official of the transportation ministry told Indonesia's MetroTV, according to The Associated Press.
The flight was scheduled to land at 8:30 a.m. local time, a spokesman with Singapore's Changi Airport said. AirAsia announced the flight's disappearance on its Facebook page about three hours after the plane was scheduled to arrive.
"At the present time we unfortunately have no further information regarding the status of the passengers and crew members on board, but we will keep all parties informed as more information becomes available," the airline said.
"At this time, search and rescue operations are in progress and AirAsia is cooperating fully and assisting the rescue service," the statement said.
Changi Airport set up a relatives' holding area to provide assistance to family of passengers on the flight, the airport said.
The Airbus 320-200 can carry up to 246 passengers, according to the company's website.
The loss of contact with the AirAsia flight comes nine months after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which vanished during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard on March 8. It has never been found.
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