>> hello and welcome everyone to cnn's special coverage of the search for missing airasia

flight 8501. >> thanks for your company. an urgent search under way right now off the coast of indonesia for any sign of that missing air asia flight 8501 and the 162 people on board. >> yeah but one indonesian search and rescue official says they believe the jet is at the bottom of the sea. this as families anxiously await any news on the fate of their loved ones. a terrible time. >> unimaginable what those people are going through. here's what we know about this right now. ships, helicopters, and planes from a number of countries are going to be taking part in the search that comes 29 hours after the plane disappeared. >> it was on its way to singapore after taking off in surabaya. we're told the captain asked for a change in altitude because of bad weather. the ceo of airasia, said they're

focused on the relatives of those on board. >> we're very devastated by what's happened. it's unbelievable. but we do not know what's happened yet. so we'll wait for the accident investigation to really find out what's happened. our concern right now is for the relatives and for the next of kin. there's nothing more important to us for our crews' family and the passengers' family that we look after them. that's our number one priority at the moment. >> all right, the families of those on board that missing jet gathering at the airport in surabaya to get the latest on the search. our andrew stevens has been there as well and has the latest. >> we're now several hours into the second day of searching for missing flight 8501 and still no sign of where that plane may be. just behind me here at surabaya airport, the first media briefing of the day, and officials here are going through the assets which are currently

being deployed from several countries now, several ships and aircraft now involved in that search. and just before this news conference started, the families of the passengers were also briefed by airasia officials. that was close to the media. but being able to see at least the reaction on the faces of some of those families they were grim-faced showing very little emotion to what they were being being toldtold. there was a press conference in jakarta where it was suggested the plane is at the bottom of the sea. that's focusing on the fact of where the plane's last known coordinates were and where it could have gone from there. and also taking into account the weather conditions. however, this is not confirmed. it's still very much a search and rescue mission for flight 8501. andrew stevens, cnn, surabaya indonesia. >> let's take a closer look at

this with a pilot's perspective. we're joined by a 777 captain, contributing editor of "flying" magazine. we're talking here about a pilot with 20,000 -- 20,500 hours, very experienced guy. when you're flying into the kind of bl and i know you know what it's like what are you trying to do? >> well, what we're trying to do is primarily avoidance. there gets to be a certain point where we have to kind of pick our way through some of the particular cells, but for the most part we try to find the heaviest portion and avoid it altogether. and we would be using your weather radar and a mode of the auto pilot called heading select so we would deviate off route and try to make a nice smooth ride for our passengers. we never want to intentionally

go through directly a thunderstorm. >> it's our understanding that the pilot -- the captain asked for a deviation in the flight route, asked to go higher. how stable is the plane at those altitudes, some 36,000 to 38,000 feet? >> well that's a great part of the question. but before i get to that answer and i'll get to it very quickly. let's not jump ahead of ourselves. the request for higher altitude may have been because they were experiencing choppy ride. it may not have been unbearable. we all want to make our ride comfortable for passengers. as far as going to a higher altitude my understanding of the a-320, about a 49,000 max service altitude. when you get up to the thin air, called coffin corner where the performance of the airplane is such that you are close to the max airspeed that the airplane can attain and very close to the lowest airspeed you can maintain

before it stalls. so you do run into that situation. but as long as you're not experiencing a lot of airplane upset in the form of turbulence you're still in an okay situation as long as you're monitoring the power for the airplane and how the systems are operating. >> you raise an interesting point, because i was talking to a friend and colleague who is an aviation expert in australia, and he made that point. said he'd been looking at the radar information that was available and said they were at 36,300 feet and climbing, doing 353 knots and that there were some in the industry who said that was a bit slow. >> it could have been. i don't want to speculate, especially since i'm not an airbus a-320 captain, but that's indeed possible. but i think any of the radar data that we have or any of the data that we have period is just based on ground speed as opposed to airspeed.

as we know from reports and some of the experience we have with airplanes, airplanes care about what the wind is doing relative to its flow over the wing and not necessarily what it's doing over the ground. so we have to determine what the actual wind conditions were at the time. so that's an important factor and you know the deviation, going to a higher altitude that's not something that we choose very often. it is an option. but we know even if we can, what we call top the thunderstorm cell, it still may be turbulent above that particular thunderstorm cell. >> and going higher above the thunderstorm again, we don't know what exactly happened to this aircraft, we want to be very transparent with our viewers, but looking at the situation with the request to go higher hearing that there was bad weather in the vicinity in the area what would that do to the instruments of the plane? i mean would they be affected

hugely? just give us some perspective of what the pilots would have been seeing there in the cockpit. >> well the instrumentation wouldn't change unless there was some malfunction. this is a normal course of events. i very often request higher altitudes because generally speaking the law of averages has us get a smoother ride at a higher altitude. so i don't find this unusual. as far as your question unusual instrumentation displays absolutely not, unless some malfunction was occurring. >> should be clear too, that unlike mh370, we're not going to be looking for this plane ten months from now are we? it's shallow waters heavily trafficked ocean area? >> that's what i would like to believe. it's a much smaller area. however, it is vast enough that things -- if we you know god forbid have to deal with a

wreckage situation, you know, a lot of fragments are hidden by white caps in the swells themselves. but that being said i do give a lot more hope that we'll find this a lot quicker, but let's have patience with this process. >> contributing editor of "flying" magazine appreciate you coming on to give your expertise and perspective. >> my pleasure. >> we're being very transparent with our viewers here that we do not know what has happened to this aircraft just that we're hearing now from the head of the indonesian search and rescue agency that he believes it's his assumption that this aircraft is at the bottom of the sea. so but so many unanswered questions. >> you got to wonder how much triangulation they could get off the various radar in that area. and how they could pinpoint it. this is what we were discussing last hour. how is it that you can look for your iphone, but you can't find a plane? >> and we're seeing the

elements no mayday call but you also hear that doesn't always happen anyway. >> if you're trying to fly the plane, that's the last thing you're doing. >> there's another urgent story we're following for you. rescue efforts continue on a passenger fire that caught fire on its way to italy. if you've been in that part of the world, these ferries are everywhere. it's a popular way for tourist to get around but also trucks and all the rest of it. you can see the dramatic video, a fire inside the cabin, absolutely out of control. >> and this accident has of course a fatality. there has been a loss of life. one person has died. italy's coast guard says the victim was a man who attempted to escape the fire by leaping off the ship. >> which is extraordinary given the drama that's unfolding, the freezing conditions that only

one person has died so far. scores of people have been rescued rescued. 221 have been taken off. but 257 are still on board the norman atlantic. and again, we have to reiterate this happened over a day ago, 257 people still out there in horrific conditions. the fire i know many of you are wondering, how do we get to this position? the fire is believed to have broken out in the ship's garage area after leaving port in northwestern greece. >> and as efforts continue to get those people to safety joining us now by telephone, with more details on the rescue operation, barbie you've been on this story from the beginning and as we get those last figures of 257 people still on board, what sort of conditions are they facing? >> well you know they're waiting for first light right now. we haven't had any update in the numbers. still 257 onboard the ship 221

that have been taken off. the seas are extremely rough. we're seeing warnings for storms and heavy seas throughout the morning here in italy. so that's going to hinder the rescue operation even more. one of the things they will have when they have first light in an hour or so here is the ability to use larger helicopters. they can only remove people from the ship by airlifting them off. and they're using helicopters that have the ability to function with night vision that can only take one, maybe two people off at a time. once they're able to use these larger aircraft they'll be able to take five or six people off at a time. so we'll assume that will speed up the efforts here. and if the seas do calm enough they might be able to get a ship close enough to do a different kind of transfer to sort of bring them off the top of the ship to another ship but they're nowhere near that right now, with the seas as rough as

they are. they're even having a problem once they get these survivors off the ship to even dock in an italian port. at the closest port they were unable to get a vessel in in the early hours of this morning, because the seas are simply so rough. the adriatic it's not uncommon for rough seas in that part of italy, on that side of italy. but it really is hampering the rescue operation at this moment. >> tough situation for those still on board. barbie thanks. >> incredible to hear that the nightmare doesn't end when they get you off the ship. but getting you onto land is still a problem. >> unbelievable. i think it was 60-odd people they were trying to get in there and could not and they had to go elsewhere. >> our thoughts are with those on that ship and their families who are going through a horrific time watching these pictures.

>> can you imagine, you're sitting at home watching on television and your family is on board? >> just a nightmare. searchers are back out looking for airasia flight 8501 coming up paula hancocks will have details on the massive search under way for the plane and survivors. just in time for the holidays. t-mobile introduces america's only unlimited 4g lte family plan. get two lines of unlimited 4g lte data for just 100 bucks a month. with any smart phone. including the samsung galaxy note 4, for $0 down. add more family members for just 40 bucks a pop. think the other guys have a family plan like this? think again.

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♪ >> welcome back, everyone from the air and in the sea, crews are now searching for any sign of missing airasia flight 8501, this as indonesia's top official says the jet is likely at the bottom of the sea. >> the last known coordinates. you got ships, helicopters,

aircraft from a number of different nations that are taking part in this search. 29 hours after it disappeared. it was on route to singapore after taking off from surabaya in indonesia. on board that craft, 162 people. 155 were indonesians. shortly before communication was lost the captain of the plane asked for a change in altitude because of bad weather. >> let's go now to paula hancocks who joins us from bella tong in indonesia where some of the searches are being launched. i know we got a signal up now. just tell us what's going on where you are. we see a rescue helicopter behind you? >> that's right, yes. we know that at least two military aircraft here also a search and rescue aircraft it's a civilian airplane as well. those planes coming in but three helicopters here that have already been out this morning.

they've been on one sortie trying to find this aircraft. they've come back here to refuel. one of the pilots was saying they went inside for a briefing before coming out, and that i going up in the air quite soon once again. and basically this is becoming a staging point. this is the jumping-off point for the search and rescue operation. we're seeing these helicopters here. we're also seeing on the east of the island some ambulances that have been assembled and also a make-shift morgue so that authorities are basically preparing for the worst and the best-case scenario depending on what they find. but it's not just the indonesian planes involved. some hercules took off from jakarta. there are seven ships on the water as well just from indonesia. malaysia has assets involved in this. so does australia. india has offered support. singapore where this plane was

supposed to touch down is also offering assets. so there's a number of ships and planes and helicopters that are involved in the search and rescue operation. but we heard from the transport minister ministery that it was a very broad search location. so they have warned everybody it's not going to be an easy task to find this plane. >> and my understanding, the way this area is being combed is using a grid system. tell us about that. >> well the way we understand it is that they have cordoned it off into four sections to make it easier, to make sure really that they don't miss any areas. of course the flight path that this plane was taking on sunday was mainly over water, pretty much all over water, but there are islands along this area of the java sea. this is one of those islands. this is believed to be one of the closest islands to the location where the plane lost

contact with air patrol centers. and so certainly they're making sure that they're trying to organize it well because it's a broad location they say. and of course they're trying to narrow down exactly where this plane might have gone down. but the most important thing for them at this point is to have eyes on the surface of the sea. it's known to be fairly shallow water. weather of course has been a concern over the past day or two. now today it doesn't appear to be too stormy at this point, but of course there's a lot of cloud cover which affects visibility. back to you. >> paula, thanks so much. paula hancocks there on the spot for us. we'll check in with you later, paula, thanks. >> they're set up to get as many aircraft out, as soon as possible. the one thing that i'm interested to know and we'll see if we can get paula back is how long they're able to stay out

there. we know time is of the essence. >> it is. and even though it's nowhere near the search area of mh370, it's still a lot of area to cover and having seen that search up close personally. it's so difficult, you're scanning just endless, endless ocean, to see any little speck of something. it's very hard on the eyes. requires a lot of concentration. as you reported in our coverage of mh 370, people in the aircraft are in for long hours of just staring and there's so much floating on the surface of the sea that you never think about. >> including white caps which brings us to weather. we know it could have played a role in this incident perhaps. we're joined by pedram for that. tell us about what this plane was facing on the flight and also what the searchers are facing now. >> absolutely. kind of want to start off with what you were saying the search area with mh370, of course at

one point it was like trying to find a plane in an area the size of the united states. the java sea, 167,000 square miles, a little over 400,000 square kilometers. if you're wafeping on the west coast, that's the equivalent of trying to find a plane in the entire state of california. across europe, sweden. in the middle east iraq. that's the surface area. so something worth noting. this is a thunderstorm. you see how organized it was. look how quickly it collapses. that high symmetry of this storm was of concern to us. you look at the formation, the plane went right through this route. that thunderstorm collapsed within a couple of hours. that's akin to taking a balloon until it expands and burst. that is what the thunderstorm did in the vicinity of this aircraft. that tells us significant

downdrafts were in the vicinity of this craft. notice the thunderstorm that we're talking about, a little bit of clearing and that typically indicates cool air coming down to the surface and causing the clearing there. so a downdraft could play a role in a storm of this magnitude. average one 20, to 30,000 in height. this one up to 53,000 among the highest on our planet. and again, it's not a storm that you can climb up and over. we have a lot of conditions when it comes to freezing and icing. so you go around it but around it you can run into downdrafts which is what the weather scenario may have been 24 hours ago across this region. >> and pedram as we look at the conditions now, with the search and rescue operation, talk to us about currents there in the java sea and what that could mean for any debris if indeed this plane did come down? >> that's a fantastic question. i was just thinking about the

currents across this region because the currents this time of year are a westerly current. so debris across this region, about 70 miles from the last known location or about 110 kilometers to bornio right on the eastern side of the plane track and another 150 miles back to the west of it about 250 kilometers across that region. so the currents will travel to the west and any sort of debris on the surface there would want to travel back to the west as well. note if there's a lot more water to the west than to the east. that's something worth noting. could take several weeks to run into the shores if it doesn't run across islands in this region. >> pedram thanks for that. the size of california but hopefully with the radar information they do have they're not going to be looking in that big an area but that's the size of the sea. >> that's the size of the sea. and they themselves said it's still a broad area and that's an admission of how difficult it

is. but this is a story we'll stay on top of for you. coming up airasia flight 8501 is the second large aircraft to disappear within a year. hard to believe we're talking about another one. >> exactly. in the same year families in both flights wait in anguish. we'll take a look at the differences between the incidents and what lessons might have been learned from mh370. i live in a luxury penthouse overlooking central park. when the guests arrive, they're greeted by my butler, larry. my helipad is being re-surfaced so tonight we travel by more humble means. at my country club we play parlor games with members of the royal family. yes i am rich. that's why i drink the champagne of beers. ♪♪

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>> welcome back everyone. as the search resumes for air asia flight 8501 mystery clouds its disappearance. earlier this year, malaysian airlines flight 370 that vanished without a trace. we take a look at some similarities in the disappearances and what lessons have been learned. >> there are disconcerting similarities between mh370 and

8501. 370 vanished less than an hour after taking off. 8501 disappeared less than a hour after surabaya. neither plane sent a distress call. in the case of the malaise jet liner, it was a moonless nights. the passengers of 8501 were experiencing very bad weather. >> breaking news here on cnn is the mystery of flight 370 -- >> cnn broke the news barely 48 hours after the plane had gone missing that malaysia's own military radar showed it was gone from that area within an hour of takeoff. the government had hesitated. critical information was withheld. malaysia airlines didn't tell families flight 370 was even

missing until the time it was supposed to be arriving in beijing. many hours after it vanished. >> families felt deceived. many accused malaysian authorities of a cover-up. conspiracy theories exploded on the internet even as officials were belatedly trying to set the record straight. because weather couldn't be a factor for mh370, many of those theories centered on terrorism. although no link to terrorism was ever uncovered, it was too late. and whatever information was released by malaysian authorities seemed contradictory and meaningless. >> most passengers were chinese nationals and china took the unusual step of allowing their families to take to the streets in protest. air asia appears to have learned lessons from the mh 3 sencht tragedy and moved quickly to inform families. they responded with passenger

manifest and load list online within hours. critical questions remain. in the hours ahead, radar searches may yield answers for the families of passengers on 8501. neither plane had the gps expert so many advocated after the disappearance of mh370. nearly ten months later, that may be the lesson we haven't learned. jim clancy cnn. >> the question now, when will that lesson be learned? when will we see the changes in how these aircraft are outfitted? >> absolutely. so much technology out there that could help find planes in this situation. and just financial reasons, but meanwhile, hundreds of people -- >> i think as we talk about the financial reasons, which are holding the progress let's call it progress back it's going to take one country, it's going to take someone to champion this as it always the case when it comes to change. >> it's got to be a worldwide

thing. we're going to continue our live coverage of the missing flight qz 8501. we'll also have details on another travel disaster we're following. >> rescuers pulling people off a burning ferry in the adriatic sea. we'll tell you what's being looked at as a possible cause of the disaster. stay with cnn.com. dad. military families are uniquely thankful for many th. . . the legacy of usaa auto insurance could be one of them. if you're a current or former military member or their family, get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life.

>> welcome back everyone to cnn's special coverage of the search for missing air asia flight 8501, i'm isha sesay. >> and mike michael holmes. more than a day after that

flight disappeared, the search for the flight has resumed and it's daylight. >> the australian defense force is deploying to assist the search seven ships and two helicopters are joining the planes already hovering over the water. relatives are anxious for information. >> so far, of course no sign of that aircraft. >> it's an agonizing wait for answers for the families of the 162 people on board airasia flight qz 8501. >> my fiancee and his family was on that plane. it was supposed to be their last vacation before us got married. >> the monitors at the airport, not showing the status of the flight from indonesia to singapore. instead reading, go to info counter. >> families learned more from twitter with airasia's ceo saying airasia indonesia

regrets to confirm that qz 8501 from surabaya to singapore has lost contact at 7:24 hours this morning. before communication was lost the pilot asked for permission to climb to a higher altitude and deviate from the planned route. >> it's possible that the plane was in distress. the pilot's reaction to a problem with the plane in bad weather will be looked at and will be a significant factor. >> authorities say there were clouds in the region, but did not want to speculate if severe weather played a role in the plane's disappearance. airasia's iconic logo going from red to gray. changing more than a color, but the mood. >> as rescue teams are activated, and family members rush to take a glance at a flight manifest posted at the airport, perhaps hoping their loved one somehow missed the ill-fated flight. >> thoughts and prayers have been circulating on social media

all day long for those family members. the other thing that people are asking how is it possible that we can trace a cell phone down to the block, yet a plane can be lost? rosea flores cnn, new york. >> it is indeed the question many many people are pondering, how is it possible in this day and age that a plane can seemingly just disappear? many questions also about the airline itself. let's tell you a little bit about it. airasia has been a popular budget carriers since operations began in 2002 with a good reputation for safety. >> it's carried millions of passengers. joining us jeffrey thomas editor in chief and managing director at airline ratings.com. jeff last time i saw you, we were in perth covering mh370 together and here we are again. i'm curious, when you look at this with your expertise, what comes to mind for you? >> look what comes to mind

michael, is this appears as though it's going to be a weather-related upset. you know we do know some concrete facts here, whereas in the case of mh370, we were flying blind, if you like. we know that the captain requested a climb in altitude from 32 to 38,000 feet. we than he asked for a deviation from his track, to go left of track, or his planned flight route to avoid thunderstorms. and we know that there were severe thunderstorms in the area. we've seen the radar, printouts of those. so that is absolutely crystal clear. they were severe and there were many of them. so we do know that. we know exactly where we lost contact with him as well. so it's a fairly defined box for the searchers to look whereas mh370, we had virtually no idea

where it went. so -- and then what we've also been able to obtain from some pilots is a radar print-out of the aircraft. and what it shows is this particular flight, at an altitude of 36,000 feet and climbing but traveling at approximately 105 miles per hour too slow to sustain flight. so it looks like on this radar evidence that we have that he was involved in some upset, high altitude aerodynamic upset, possibly caused by the thunderstorm. >> what does that mean? >> what that means, there was not sufficient speed for this airplane to sustain flight. so the wings stalled. this is a very rare occurrence. it did happen with air france

447 in 2009. there are some similarities between the two. on the evidence we have so far, and of course nothing is confirmed as far as this is concerned. but the radar plot does show him climbing through 36,300 feet and traveling approximately 100 miles an hour an hour too slow to sustain flight. >> let me ask you this. we have the head of the indonesian national search and rescue agency now saying, it's his conconjecture that based on early data this plane is now at the bottom of the sea. how much confidence can we put in that early data? >> well the early data that i'm presuming he's working on is the fact that we have the radar plot for the last location, and we have no call for a mayday. therefore, we assume there was a catastrophic failure. of course if a plane gets into a serious upset, which has

happened before the first priority of the pilot is to fly the plane to get it out of trouble and not to make a mayday call. so again, all of these factors together point to a catastrophic upset at high altitude and a loss of control of the airplane. and if that's the case if that turns out to be the case then it's highly likely that the plane will be in the sea. and whether it's on the surface, where there are survivors, it's too early to tell at this stage. >> and just very quickly, going back to this -- and again we have to say we don't know what happened but it's interesting what you've been able to dedeuce and other pilots have been able to dedeuce from this radar information. what happens if there's a stall? how equipped is the aircraft to

restart? >> well it's a wind stall, not an engine stall. we have to clarify that. when you talk about a stall, they think about your car stalling on the freeway. this is an aerodynamic stall of the wingd, so it can no longer sustain flight. the air across the top of the wing is disturbed and broken up and no longer giving lift. if it's a controlled scenario the pilot would simply push the nose down the plane would gain speed, it would start flying again. however, if it's uncontrolled event where he's completely lost control of the airplane then the scenarios that unfold are not very pleasant and possibly you can't get out of them. >> wow. and of course just to restate

that, you know it's a theory. it's conjecture. but you're working off some data that you've seen? >> we are working off data absolutely. and it's confirmed by several captains that we've spoken to. but it appears to fit a picture of this airplane entering into a severe thunderstorm area asking for deviation, and we've seen the paint, the radar paint of these thunderstorms. very severe and then suddenly we lose contact with the airplane. this -- [ inaudible ] the pieces we've put together it appears to be absolutely weather-related. >> and one last question for you. and again, it's not confirmed, we're working on a theory just want to stress that to our viewers, it's unclear what happened to this aircraft. but going off that theory the one you're sharing with us here if that is indeed what happened

the stall, would the plane come apart at that altitude, or would it come down as a whole? trying to get an idea what searchers would be looking for. >> it should -- again, it's conjecture here. it should stay intact. the a-320 is a robust airplane as our modern airplanes today, very robust. however, there could be scenarios, if the pilot had blundered right into the middle of a severe thunderstorm those sorts of things have torn airplanes to pieces. this happened a number of times in the united states in the early 1960s. when we didn't understand the dynamics of thunderstorms the way we do today. and also we didn't have radar like we have today. and unfortunately, tragically lives were lost. >> jeff, great to get your expertise in on that.

do appreciate it. we'll be speaking with you again. jeff thomas managing director airline ratings.com. >> thank you. >> it's a fascinating theory. it's a theory but working off data as well. what happens once you've got that data flying too slow, according to some pilots for the ascent ascent but we don't know what happened after that. >> and then it comes down again, to the choices the pilot made. >> and the weather. >> and the weather, of course. again, many unanswered questions. but we will continue to ask the questions and stay on top of the story of the missing airasia flight. but also another big story we're following for you here at cnn. a dramatic rescue in the adriatic sea. when we come back we'll get the latest on a burning passenger ferry off the coast of greece. we'll be right back.

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welcome back, everyone. we're following two big stories for you at cnn. the search for the missing flight but also a situation from the coast of greece where rescuers are trying to get people off a ferry that's on fire. >> all kinds of things going on. it's dark and there's horrible weather as well. have a look at this video, that was shot by somebody on board the ship and they managed to get it off. you can see that fire just raging out of control inside the vessel. so everybody's outside. we do know one person has died. >> we do indeed. we understand that this person died basically leaping off the ship. the victim was a man who was attempting to escape. terrifying conditions. 221 people have been rescued since the accident occurred. but 257 still remain on board in freezing conditions. >> after all this time too, they

are all outside, obviously on the decks. they can't go down below because of the fires. officials say once the sun is up and that shouldn't be too long. they'll be able to use larger helicopters to rescue passengers in larger numbers. the problem is they've had to overnight use helicopters with night vision and they're limited to picking up one or two people at a time. it's been painfully slow. >> very painfully slow. and the question everyone has right now, how did this all happen? how did it all start? at this stage, we're hearing oil rigs packed tightly together in the ferry's garage area are being looked at as a possible cause of the fire. officials are saying now that the fire is contained, but say the ship well that is still too unstable to be moved significantly. >> one suggestion was some of those vehicles or machinery was packed so close together they were rub against each other and perhaps cause a spark which

ignited something down there. obviously an investigation is coming. let's have a look at the weather in the region. pedram pedram tell us what they're up against there. obviously it was a horrible night in terms of rescue conditions. >> worst case scenario as far as the timing with a storm system coming in. of course it's the fourth shortest day of the year across the northern hemisphere. very cold temperatures across this portion of the world as well. the ferry track was right through this region between albania and also the southern portion of italy as it entered the adriatic. the front comes in wave heights well over ten feet. winds also about 25 to 30 kilometers per hour. beginning to die down a little bit. that's the good news for your forecast on monday. i see some clouds parting and winds lighter, and another storm enters on tuesday. that's the pattern this time of year. you don't get much in the way of clear skies. so you do get a break on monday

and it picks back up tuesday, winds as high as third to 40 miles per hour. 50 to 60 kph as far as metrics are concerned. generally speaking across this region into the upper 50s fahrenheit 15 degrees celsius. a very dangerous water temperature. if you're on a ferry across this region the last thing you want to do is being on the deck. folks are forced to be on the deck. if you were to be in the water, you're looking at one to two hours survival time depending on your age, health level, fitness level, you could extend that up to six hours. so certainly not long-term as far as being able to survive with air temperatures down to 39 to 40 degrees. so about 3 to 4 degrees celsius. tuesday into wednesday, another strong storm system parks south of the area of interest strong thunderstorms there, some snow showers right on the immediate coast there. the pink indicating some sleet on the beaches of eastern italy.

so it kind of shows you how cold the air mass is across this region when it comes to the search and rescue efforts and the sooner the better with this next storm system coming in on tuesday. >> and as you talk about the snow showers and the cold water temperatures, we know the helicopters are being employed for this rescue effort. what about winds? >> on monday the winds will be calmer than sunday. on tuesday they go back to the situation that we saw during the first -- the news breaking here of this ferry catching fire. so it looks like only one day break. >> hopefully they can get everyone off once day breaks. pedram thank you very much. once they get the bigger helicopters in they can get more people off at a time. you can imagine being up on that deck it's cold there's boats spraying water to control the fire everybody's wet, and it's freezing. >> i imagine that there are going to be a lot of questions asked about this about the way this search and recovery --

search and rescue i should say, was conducted. and people will be asked questions about this helicopter situation. >> remarkable only one person has died. >> a story we'll stay on top of for you here on cnn. we'll also continue our coverage of flight qz 8501. >> and we'll have here on the safety record of the a-320 that was involved. stay with us. why do i cook for the holidays? to share with family to carry on traditions to come together, even when we're apart in stuffing, mashed potatoes gravy, and more, swanson® makes holiday dishes delicious!

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now. which is crazy. and no sign no nothing of flight 8501. airline airport officials, they have been meeting privately with dozens of passengers relatives in indonesia. >> we'll tell you about the search and rescue efforts. planes helicopters and ships resumed their search. they lost contact with the plane traveling from surabaya to singapore. >> one everof the pilots asked to fly at a higher altitude because of the weather. the chief of indonesia's national search and rescue agency says based on the information so far, point of last contact, radar and the like the assumption is that the plane, and these are his words, is at the bottom of the sea. >> very, very painful words to hear for the relatives who are waiting at various airports in the region waiting for more information. let's tell you more about the airline we're talking about.

it's a malaysia-based airline, trafrl traveling to about 100 destinations. cnn's rene marsh takes a close look at this particular plane and the safety record of the fleet. >> we know this is a newer aircraft. roughly six years old, the delivery date october 2008. now, as far as flight time, we're told by airbus it has about 23,000 flight hours. it's what you would call a work horse for commercial aviation. it is a well traveled aircraft. the safety record for the a-320 is pretty good when you consider the millions of flights this family of aircraft has made. now, at this point, airbus is very careful with the language it is using. it is not dipping into the arena of speculation. they say they're waiting and they are collecting information. they're making it very clear that they are ready and willing to work with investigators once it moves on to the investigative

stage. we also know that here in the united states the national transportation safety board, they have opened up the lines of communication. they've been in contact with airbus the manufacturer of the aircraft. they've also been in touch with the french equivalent of the ntsb. and we're also told they've been in touch with the indonesians. and the indonesians will likely lead the investigation. at this point, the ntsb says they are monitoring the situation, ready to provide some technical assistance if they are asked for it. back to you. >> renee marsh there. we'll take a short break. our live coverage of the loss of that airline and we'll continue in a moment. i'm michael holmes. >> and i'm isha sesay. stay with cnn.

hello, everyone. and welcome to cnn's special coverage for the search of the missing asia air flight. we have a grim message in the last hour or two. assuming and this is not confirmed, that the airasia airliner is quote, at the bottom of the sea. now well into