Air Asia flight with 162 people on board from Indonesia to Singapore goes missing
A Changi Airport staff holds up a sign to direct possible next-of-kin of passengers of AirAsia flight QZ8501 REUTERS/Edgar Su

AirAsia flight QZ8501 with 162 people on board on its to Singapore from the Indonesian city of Surabaya, mysteriously disappeared midway on early on 28 December.

The Airbus A320 lost contact with the air traffic control tower in Jakarta, leaving both aviation experts and next-of-kin of passengers in distress.

This is the third air tragedy for the Malaysian aviation sector and Twitter is abuzz that the sky over South East Asia is cursed.

Earlier in March 2014, the Malaysia Airlines' flight MH370 mysteriously disappeared midair, leaving aviation experts in a conundrum regarding its whereabouts and until now, the conclusion is being derived from scientific hypothesis.

Flight MH370 prompted massive search operations across the Pacific Ocean in which many countries participated.

The Boeing 777 was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board.

Later in July, the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, with 298 people on board, was shot down before exploding into flames midair, approximately 32,000 feet above the ground. The plane crashed in eastern Ukraine, killing all passengers and crew members on board.

Meanwhile, there are reports that an Australian surveillance aircraft has detected objects in the waters similar to that of AirAsia flight QZ8501 around 160kms south west of Pangkalan Bun.

Related