AirAsia flight QZ8501: one Briton confirmed to be on board missing plane as search is suspended overnight

 
Distraught: a relative of a passenger on board AirAsia flight QZ8501 weeps as she waits for the latest news (Picture: AP)
Standard Reporter28 December 2014

An AirAsia plane which has gone missing on its way from Indonesia to Singapore had one Briton on board, airport officials have said.

The British person is among six crew and 155 passengers on flight QZ8501, according to the general manager of Surabaya's Juanda airport.

He was named as Chi Man Choi, according to reports in the Indonesian media. He is thought to have been travelling with his daughter, Zoe, on tickets bought on Boxing Day and is believed to hold a British passport but lives in Singapore with his family.

The other missing passengers are said to be Indonesian, South Korean, Singaporean, Malaysian and French.

The Airbus A320-200 lost contact with air traffic control at 7.24am local time (00.24 GMT), AirAsia said.

Reports in Indonesia suggested the search for the missing aircraft was halted at 5.30pm local time (10.30 GMT) due to poor visibility. Investigators are expected to resume the search in the morning.

The company's chief executive Tony Fernandes, who also owns Premier League football team Queens Park Rangers, said he was travelling to Surabaya to hold talks with colleagues.

He took over the floundering airline 13 years ago and transformed it into a hugely successful business.

He tweeted: "Thank you for all your thoughts and prays. We must stay strong."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">We will be putting out another statement soon. Thank you for all your thoughts and prays.we must stay strong.— Tony Fernandes (@tonyfernandes) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/tonyfernandes/status/549065443592241153" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-2929401-https://twitter.com/tonyfernandes/status/549065443592241153" data-vars-event-id="c23">December 28, 2014</a>

In a statement on its Facebook page, AirAsia confirmed a rescue operation was underway.

A spokesman for the airline said: "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 aircraft was an Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC.

"At this time, search and rescue operations are in progress and AirAsia is co-operating fully and assisting the rescue service."

Tears: a relative of a missing passenger waits at Juanda international airport (Picture: AFP/Getty)

The airline said family or friends of those who may have been on the aircraft can phone their emergency call centre on 00 622129850801.

The Malaysia-based AirAsia, which has dominated cheap travel in the region for years, has never lost a plane before.

This is the third major air incident for south-east Asia this year.

On March 8, Malaysia Airlines flight 370, a wide-bodied Boeing 777, went missing soon after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing.

Media scrum: a relative of a missing passenger speaks to journalists (Picture: AFP/Getty)

It remains missing until this day with 239 people in one of the biggest aviation mysteries.

Another Malaysia Airlines flight, also a Boeing 777, was shot down over rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine while on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17 killing 298 people on board.

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