AirAsia QZ8501: Search zone for missing plane expanded

Countries around the region as well as the US, France and Australia are joining the search over the Java sea. The Airbus A320-200, carrying 162 people, disappeared on Sunday shortly after leaving Surabaya in eastern Java on its way to Singapore, BBC News reports. The pilot's last contact was a request to divert around bad weather. Indonesian officials say air traffic control approved one request, then gave clearance to a second request two to three minutes later for the plane to climb. No reply was received from the plane, which then disappeared from radar. No trace has been found despite a two-day search. On board the plane were 137 adult passengers, 17 children and one infant, along with two pilots and five crew. Most were Indonesian but the passengers included one UK national, a Malaysian, a Singaporean and three South Koreans. Pilot Capt Iriyanto had more than 20,500 flight hours, almost 7,000 of them with AirAsia. The co-pilot was French national Remi Emmanuel Plesel. Full story