airasia's ceo is using social media. in a series of tweets tony fernandes called this his worst nightmare. keeping positive and staying strong. my heart bleeds for our crew and our passengers. those posts have been retweeted thousands of times. a new way of dealing with the public in a crisis i think. social media. also a new way for dealing with the crisis in a year with several very high profile crises and different reactions. >>> "early start" continues right now. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >> grim news this morning in the search. the desperate search for airasia flight 8501. investigators revealing now they believe the missing plane and its 162 passengers is now at the bottom of the sea. we are bringing you live team coverage on the latest into the investigation. the search and what went wrong. they say early conjecture is that plane is missing in the ocean. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm john berman. monday 5:00 a.m. in the east. welcome to the viewers in the united states and a

airasia is on a better footing. malaysia airline has been losing money for years before mh-370 disappeared. airasia is expected to increase profits. shares up more than 20% this year. it has a good reputation as a reliable low-cost carrier. it is key to see how the company responds to the crisis. how the company responds. ceo tony fernandes has been tweeted from the beginning talking about how is broken hearted. another search for another missing plane has many wondering why not track the plane? companies like flight offer real-time tracking. what is stopping companies from using this technology? experts say the answer is simple. money. if it is not government mandated airlines generally won't pay up. interesting the technology is there. they are not quite using it yet. >>> "early start" continues right now. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. >> breaking news this morning. debris found in the search for missing airasia flight 8501. investigators 95% certain they have found the vanished jetliner. the intense se

does that type of new operational mode then affect airasia. does it go out over tory single operator of that type of aircraft or is it up to the individual airlines? >> certainly airbus is concerned about the safety of their products. they should. i don't know if they did it in this case. this is obviously a new airline. but, normally either boeing or airbus will immediately notify all their operators and of course they cannot direct manufacturers, unlike the government authorities cannot direct this training or in this case corrective training to occur but normally the airlines listen. when a manufacturer tells you stop doing that they normally listen. eric, i would hope that problem has been solved. i know early on they said this captain had 6,000 hours. that's quite a bit of flying time. i since read he had 20,000 hours and had 6,000 hours in the airbus for airasia which means he's seen these kind of weather conditions in the past and i would hope he would know how to cope with them. we'll wait and see when we find whatever we find and hope

experts there say flight 612 was eerily similar to airasia. actualed in an attempt to climb over a thunderstorm but hit severe turbulence stalled and crashed. until airasia flight 8501 is found there is speculation as to what might have happened such as a catastrophic failure or storm that confused the pilot. >> kel lae wright in washington. thank you. >> asia being accustomed to the type of casualties. the third in the region just this year. malaysia airline flight 370 disappeared back in march and was never found then flight 17 was shot down over eastern ukraine. the transport minister says they are hoping next year will be better. >> it has been a troubled year for us. we must be strong but looking for a better year for us. >> malaysia helping indonesia in their search and recovery of airasia flight 8501. >> to another fox news alert al qaeda now calling on lone wolves to attack commercial airlines. doug luzader with more. >> remember this guy who became known as the underwear bomber he fried and failed to take down an airliner bound for de

be airasia.ing online, is based in indonesia. its hubs are in jakarta and surabaya. so it's unlikely -- it will be the indonesian authorities that will lead the way in this. with of course extremely useful help by the exceptionally competent singaporean authorities, who really know their business when it comes to dealings with these sorts of incidents. and i'm guessing airbus is already on the way, depending on who the engines are, the engine manufacturer is on the way. the a-320, i can tell you, it is not just -- it is not just any old plane. this is a plane that most airlines have in their fleet because of its reliability, its safety, and its economics. >> all right. richard, stand by for us because i want to share with our viewers some information just coming in to us. this is a developing story. we want to bring our viewers the details immediately as they come in to us here at cnn. we're getting this statement, this more detailed singapore air traffic control was notified at 0754 -- sorry. th

and airasia, based in kuala lumpur malaysia. malaysia airlines has reached out in a tweet as well supporting airasia now that they are dealing with what we presume to be a disaster including flight 8501. will ripley for us out of beijing. thank you very much, will. we're going to continue our coverage of course of this story. we have another breaking news story developing. i've just been handed this, excuse me. if this is a little rough. first i've seen it. it's transportation emergency in europe. a rescue operation is under way right now involving an italian-flagged ferry on fire we're told in the adriatic sea. the ferry norman atlantic with 411 passengers left -- i believe it's pronounced igomenizza greece. it was traveling northwest to ankona italy when the fire on board broke out. our information is rescue teams from italy and greece are there at the site using helicopters and an airplane there. at least 150 people have been rescued, but heavy winds are hindering the rescue efforts there. it is unclear what caused the fire.

hour. >>> the families aboard airasia 8501 devastated.you can see the pictures there, two victims' bodies recovered and are being sent home. the heartbreak also hitting home for family members of another downed airliner. that's next. >>> breaking news this morning. airasia ceo tony fernandes refuting claims that 8501 wreckage has been found is confirmed. the first two bodies brought back to surabaya for identification. the search and rescue identification has been halted because of bad weather. it's hard to imagine what them maybes are going through, first the discovery of bodies and the plane. the ceo hasn't said hasn't been confirmed just yet. still some confusion there. but this tragedy has also opened emotional wounds for others in the region. cnn's will ripley is looking at that. >> christine, this tragedy is not just affecting those in indonesia, the immediate families and the community that are suffering so much right now but the also affecting people all around this region. people are following it very closely. it's front page new

whatever we can do at airasia, we will be doing.d support for the families during this difficult time. the coming hours and days are going to be excruciatingly difficult for the families who came to surabaya and have been waiting near the airport and waiting in hotels hoping that there would be good news. perhaps the plane went down on land and possible survivors. now, these people are going to have to identify their parents and children and they will need a lot of support in the days ahead. it's a horrible situation. >> difficult days ahead. will ripley thanks so much. >> we are continuing to follow the latest on airasia flight 8501 all morning long. investigators are 95% certain what you see there is debris from the vanished jetliner. our live team coverage continues as we learn more about what has been found and the next steps. ring ring! progresso! i can't believe i'm eating bacon and rich creamy cheese before my sister's wedding well it's only 100 calories, so you'll be ready for that dress uh-huh... you don't love the dress? i

they are going to be briefed by airasia, and we are then expecting airasia to issue a statement or hold al news conference following that to give us their latest information. but at the moment, as far as the information official information, not much has changed here poppy. as you've been reporting, the search has resumed, indonesia has seven vessels, two helicopters, singapore is sending one of the planes. a lot of it honestly depends on what conditions are like in the search area. they have identified a search area it is big, as you say, they've split it up into four grid areas which they're going to be combing. conditions will be very very important to finding the, when they find anything which could be related to that plane. >> and we do know that the weather has gotten significantly better for search and rescue. that is one bright sign. andrew what about the families? you covered the disappearance of mh-370 what about now? i mean what kind of centers for the families have been set up by the airline where they can gather and try to get information and any comfort they can. >> yeah a

indonesia airasia has a fleet of 30 airbus a-320s. airasia has been in business since 2001.. for more on airasia's safety record we're joined on the phone by the transport reporter. it's been around since 2001 so it's relatively a newer airline, but it has had a good reputation. has it always had that? >> caller: yes. it's been a good, well-run airline. it's profitable. and there have been no safety issues with the airline so far. this is actually the first major incident. >> so what do we know about this specific airplane then that was being flown, as far as how old this airplane was, when it was last when it last went through maintenance? what do we know? >> caller: this was delivered to the airline in 2008 so by airplane age standards, it was a pretty young, pretty new aircraft. it did undergo its last maintenance check in november is what the airline told us. so they would be i don't see any problems with any of that. it was a relatively new aircraft. and there would be no problem with the airplane itself. >> we only had this weather question that we're all kind of talki

and airasia said absolutely. they will be on an airbus 320, the same type of plane that has disappeared. there should be room for 160-plus passengers on that. they have also invited some media on that flight as well. but that's about all the details we have at the moment. but certainly, airasia and authorities here have been doing everything they can to increase the flow of information to the families here. they just set up a skype link with their headquarters of the search team in jakarta so they could ask questions first hand of the chiefs in charge of this search. and also there's been what is essentially a multi-denominational prayer service held just behind me, again, behind closed doors. there were two christian priests and a muslim cleric was there. they also have a buddhist on hand as well, who is also doing one on one conversations and prayer meetings with the families of the victims. so they are trying to get as much information to the families and give them as much as they can. the families obviously w

we're continuing our coverage of the missing airasia plane. rescue crews are searching 100 square miles of the indonesian waters for that mying airliner. it disappeared with 162 people on board. right now we're told that ships from three nations are already involved. this is the united states state department says that the embassy in indonesiastanding by ready to assist if asked. search planes are grounded due to rough weather and darkness but expected to resume in 90 minutes from now when it will be sunrise and daylight once again. hello, everyone. welcome to a brand new hour of america's news headquarters. >> here is what we know right now. airasia flight 8501 took off from indonesia. it was heading for singapore. now the last communication between the pilot and air traffic control was made at 6:18 a.m. local time. when the pilot asked to climb to 34,000 feet to avoid clouds. will carr is live in los angeles with the latest. do indonesian authorities believe weather played a part in the aircraft's disappearance? >> reporter: well, julie, no

it's believed to be one of the passengers from the airasia flight. as well as several bodies debris has been found, including what's thought to be one of the aircraft doors. and a search plane has spotted a shadow on the seabed suggesting the crashed jet has now been located. at a press conference this morning, the coordinator of the search said he was 95% sure the objects found in the water belong to the plane. another search team is to be deployed to the area. a team of divers is being put on standby. the latest developments have confirmed the worst fears of the relatives. and as they saw the pictures of the search, some were in tears. one woman collapsed in distress. the plane took off from surabaya at 5:30 on sunday morning with 162 people onboard. contact with air traffic control was last made at 6:24 a.m. the plane should have then continued on this route to singapore. with no distress signal or may day, investigators believe some kind of catastrophic event must have taken place. the pilot, who was a distinguished military flier, before he join

the ceo of airasia, tony fernandez, is now on his way to surabaya. earlier, he tweeted this short statement "thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. we must stay strong." we are covering this from many angles. we've been talking with analysts for hours now about what perhaps, happened. the last hearing from this airplane that it was trying to vector around a thunderstorm and very very dangerous weather in that region right now. cnn's will ripley is joining me now from beijing, he's among our team who are helping us cover this breaking news because will you were covering the mh 370 story for some time and were there in kuala lumpur and strangely enough airasia is based there in kuala lumpur. the similarities will end there, hopefully, it will not be an aviation mystery like we saw with mh 370. right now we just don't know anything. we do know and i want to start with you on this point, airasia lost contact with that airplane and didn't announce it for several hours. you were saying the one thing that people went through that was so hard to take w

with the latest buzz, so stay with us for all the developments in the missing we flight airasia airasia. >> breaking now objects spotted in the water. where they are and what we have just learned about the pilot's last request. >> another fox alert for you destination terror. al qaeda's latest push inspiring lone wolf attacks on american airplanes. who is targeted and now ash lines are responding. >> home for the holidays. >> it means the world to me. it is a lot of criticism taken off my soldiers. >> the incredible moment a injured vet learns he is getting a priceless gift. "fox & friends first" starts right now. >> good morning. you are watching "fox & friends first". i am cheryl casone in for heather childers. >> i am leah gabrielle in for ainsley earhardt. >> a plane vanished off the indonesian coast. mysterious objects and oil spots have been seen in the water. let's get right to david piper. he has the latest details for us. >> indonesian officials say australian planes spotted octobers floating in the sea in the area they have been searching for the missing aircraft. indonesia's

the malaysian carrier, airasia.o this particular airline has 30 aircraft. but the group has more than 100 aircraft. >> tell us what you know about the maintenance and the routine that these planes go through. >> caller: well one would expect that this is a very well-run airline. so all that's required to be done is done in this case. this was a relatively new airplane. it was delivered to them in 2008. so by aircraft standards it was not an old plane or anything. and airlines airplanes are designed to withstand a lot of pulls in pressure of the weather. so i wouldn't imagine that there would be any maintenance issues with this particular aircraft or the airline. >> well that's some positive news there, but something, something definitely went wrong. >> obviously something has gone wrong. we'll have more about what role the weather may have played when we come back. >>> the head of airasia, ceo and also indonesian haven't. >> that was from an australian aircraft is that correct? >> yeah but not yet. not yet. of cours

he told me he was hoping for a miracle of airasia 8501.e was hoping that perhaps there would be survivors. it was during our interview that the news came in that in fact the debris had been found and bodies pulled from the water, christine. >> thank you for that will. we're going to continue to cover the latest of recovery of airasia 8501 all morning long. first, millions of americans soon getting a raise. an early start on "your money" next. hey what are you doing? i was thinking about taking this speed test from comcast business. oh yeah? if they can't give us faster internet or save us money, they'll give us 150 bucks. sounds like a win win. guys! faster internet? i have never been on the internet and i am doing pretty well. does he even work here? don't listen to the naysayer. take the comcast business speed test. get faster speeds or more savings, or we'll give you $150. comcast business. built for business. >>> let's get an early start on "your money" this new year's eve. new york stocks pointing slightly higher. but stocks have neve

airasia 8501. an airbus that took off sunday morning local time fromsurabaya. it vanished from radar on its way to singapore. the final time air traffic control heard from the pilot of that airplane was when he asked to avoid clouds by turning left and going to a higher altitude at 34,000 feet. one minute later officials say the plane disappeared. the owner of airasia speaking just a short time ago. >> we hope the aircraft is found quickly and we can find out the cause of what's happened. for the moment we do not speculate. we do not know what happened and our concern now is to look after the family. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to a special edition of america's news headquarter. i'm eric shaw. the search for now has been called off at 10:00 local time there. >> it's nighttime in that part of the world as eric mentioned and the operation is suspended for now. david piper joins us on the phone now from thailand. david? >> good morning yes. airasia's tony fernandez has been giving a press conference and he said the pilot radioed in they were facing severe w

their color also appears to be consistent with airasia's livery. let's go live now to surabaya and the bbc's clive myrie. >> reporter: a press conference is just about to begin involving the president of indonesia, joko widodo, and we understand tony fernandez, the boss of airasia. in the last literally 15 minutes, 20 minutes or so confirming that search teams have now made it clear that the debris found in the java sea is that of that missing airasia plane. let's just hear what is going on. >> translator: hello, citizens all across indonesia. at just about two hours ago, i just come back from the location and from the military. i was close to the location. and have got the information. i can see myself. there were three ships on location. and all the ships this evening and tonight will go to the location. and tomorrow morning, ships and helicopters from navy and air force will be all deployed to the area. i've instruct eded joint operation. to find out the plane or the passengers and the crews. i've instructed all the team to focus, to find the pa

the ceo of airasia.he airport authority in is your buyia we'll continue to monitor what they say in the news conference this as the search crews get closer to the site of where the plane went down. what will it take to find the key parts of the data recorder, after this. when you don't get enough sleep... and your body aches... you're not yourself. tylenol ® pm relieves pain and helps you fall fast asleep and stay asleep. we give you a better night. you're a better you all day. tylenol® y'know what my business philosophy is, reynolds? >>no. not exactly. to attain success, one must project success. that's why we use fedex one rate®. >>their flat rate shipping. exactly. it makes us look top-notch but we know it's affordable. (garage door opening) (sighs) honey, haven't i asked you to please use the.... >>we don't have a reception entrance. ship a pak via fedex express saver® for as low as $7.50. >>> welcome back. devastating news this morning for the families of the 162 passengers and crew aboard flight 85

airasia officials say the focus now is on the recovery effort. the search area is about six miles from the plane's last known location. analysts say finding the cockpit voice and data recorders, the so-called black boxes, is key to trying to figure out what went wrong. a u.s. navy ship has arrived in the search area. "the uss sampson" was dispatched following a request from the indonesian government. the pentagon says another ship "the uss ft. worth" is also getting ready to deploy. the discovery of debris and bodies is devastating news for the families of the passengers and crew. while watching a live news conference on television relatives saw a body among the wreckage. one woman had to be carried away on a stretcher. hospitals in indonesia are preparing to help identify the bodies being recovered from flight 8501. in the meantime divers and ships equipped with sonar are being sent to the area where the debris was located. cnn's andrew stevens reports on the search for answers and for more wreckage from the doomed plane. >> reporter: breaking t

but as an airline, indonesia airasia is part of the airasia group.nd that's tony fernandez, that's in malaysia. that's the whole group. it's got subsidiaries around the region. they have a total of 170 aircraft. yes, there have certainly be legitimate safety concerns about indonesian carriers. but i wouldn't put airasia in any shape, form or description into that category. >> fair enough. richard quest, thank you so much. >>> turning now to politics, a top member of the republican leadership in the house of representatives is defending a speech that he gave to a white supremacist group back in 2002. what could that fallout mean for his future, for the republican congress? that's just ahead. man (sternly): seriously? where do you think you're going? mr. mucus: to work, with you. it's taco tuesday. man: you're not coming. i took mucinex to help get rid of my mucusy congestion. mr. mucus: oh, right then i'll swing by in like 4 hours... just set aside a few tacos for me. man: forget the tacos! one pill lasts 12 hours. i'm good all day. mr. mucus (to hims

flight that crashed, airasia 8501.says the united states offers condolences to the families and loved ones of those who perished on indonesia airasia 8501 and our thoughts and prayers are with those who await news on the passengers and crew who remain missing. the ceo of airasia says he is staying focused on the crash recovery operation underway off indonesia right now. but he says the company will make changes if necessary once the investigation is complete. this disaster a very big blow to an airline that was considered both safe and successful. cnn money correspondent is looking into that. this is really the first bad mark on airasia's safety record. >> that's right. this company made a name for itself by bringing affordable air travel to a part of the world that never had it. and it won many awards doing it. now, airasia is known to the rest of the world as a company whose plane went down with 162 people on board. take a listen. until flight qz-8501 made international headlines, airasia was a local success story. b

two bodies recovered from the airasia plane wreckage.ission is still in early stages. >> we are narrowing the search. they are feeling more comfortable that they are beginning to know where it is. there's no confirmation of them. no sonar, nothing. >>> a ship carrying 700 migrants is docked safely in italy after being rescued

>> well, airasia, airasia indonesia has been sending out teams to help these families it's been a very grim wait, as always with stories like this people, families and loved ones went to the airport in singapore and surabaya for news, but of course they have been waiting now for nearly 24 hours since that plane disappeared. and they now have to wait for the air and sea search to find the plane, julie. >> david piper in bangkok thailand, thank you very much. and so as we await a cause and the search and rescue teams are back out there again this morning. the question is now the cause and the fact that the weather has been quite tumultuous in the region, in fact it's monsoon season. as our meteorologist janice dean has been pointing out all day here. looking at the satellite behind you really does paint a grim picture when you're talking about air travel? >> julie that was the satellite imagery we received at the time where we lost the flight or lost contact with the flight, and you can see the cloud tops here, so this is infrared satellite imagery, meaning that we look at the cloud tops

you're watching cnn's continuing coverage of airasia flight 8501. we're going to take a quick break, but we'll be right back. get ready for some german engineered holiday excitement. at the volkswagen sign-then-drive event. right now, for practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a new volkswagen. like the sporty, advanced new jetta and the precisely engineered passat tdi. ah, the gift of clean diesel. for the new volkswagen on your list this year just about all you need, is a pen. festive, isn't it? hurry in to the sign then drive event and get a five-hundred dollar new year's bonus on select new volkswagen models. offer ends january 2nd. [ male announcer ] you wouldn't leave your car unprotected. but a lot of us leave our identities unprotected. nearly half a million cars were stolen in 2012, but for every car stolen 34 people had their identities stolen. identity thieves can steal your money, damage your credit and wreak havoc on your life. why risk it when you can help protect yourself from identity theft with one

flight -- for the airasia flight a day after. disappeared. -- a day after it disappeared. indonesian authorities say they will not suspend the search. >> we have given instructions to all our peoples to do the best fast, no limit to find the plane and the passengers. >> the plane dropped off radar minutes after its pilots requested permission to climb to 38,000 feet, almost its maximum certified cruising altitude. they said they wanted to avoid a storm cloud. by the time clearance could be given, the plane had disappeared. the malaysian-based budget carrier has maintained a good safety record since its launch. after the suspected crash, the airline resumed normal operations. >> [inaudible] >> most passengers and crew were indonesians heading for one of their most popular holiday destinations. six other nationalities were also on the list, including the french copilot. >> joining me now from jakarta a journalist. what is the latest with the search? >> well, earlier this afternoon, there was some hope about some object spotted by a

this is from airasia tony fernandez.s your group ceo will be there through these hard times. we will go through this terrible ordeal together and i will try to see as many of you. now also chilling because if you look closely at your screen you'll also see airasia logo is gray so it's gone from red to gray. a chilling move, of course, because all of these people are missing right now. this airliner is missing. and so that's just another touch of what this airline is doing. now, we all remember mh-370 covering it extensively. malaysia airlines having their own tragedy and mystery. they are also going to twitter to send a message. take a look at this. malaysia airlines tweeting quote, our thoughts and prayers are with all family and friends on those on board qz8501. malaysia's transport minister tweeting, we will support our counterparts as they take lead in this crisis under icao protocol. the icao sending thoughts and prayers through social media. so, it's really become this global conversation with a lot of people remem

airasia ceo met privately with some of the families in indonesia. he has made it clear the relatives are the airline's main concern, but right now all they can do is wait. >> let's go to cnn's paula hancocks. she joins us from nooetsz where some of the operations are being launched. for now they say it is under the sea, has that refocused the search efforts? >> reporter: i just spoke to the first marshal in charge of the operation here on this island. and he said at this stage they haven't managed to narrow down the search. he basically said it is still very random. he gave us an area that is being looked at at this point, 240 by 240 nautical miles, so an immense area. it is being cordoned off to make sure that they don't miss any areas. there's also 12 different sections sorry, five by air, 12 by sea and three by land. and now with the null of ships, helicopters and planes has increased significantly, we have the latest figures here. there's more than a dozen ships out there at this point in the java sea trying to find any indication of this plane.

travel on airasia. the eu has banned all but five of indonesia's airlines. i'm wondering if there's concern that the demand for air travel in indonesia has exceeded the capability airasia accepted perhaps from this. >> indonesia is a wealthy country. last year, their gdp surpassed australia. i remember when i was defense minister minister. indonesia's own gdp has passed australia's. their economic growth is rapid. with it the demand for the sorts of services that tourism opportunities provide. the air links now between the islands is transforming the internals of indonesia. >> but is the government and the regulation is it keeping up with the demand? >> well i have no reason to think that it's not. >> the indonesians are a serious people and they operate a serious government. it's a democratic government now. so it's a government that's constantly being tested. if you're making a mess of your administration there are a lot of people in power who will eat you alive. so there's a pretty -- they have some

airasia last provided more information on nationalities. there were 157 indonesians three south koreans. one person was from malaysia and one person was listed as singaporean. so we have had an indonesian official say the plane was carrying about four hours of fuel. we know it's been missing for more than six and a half hours now. what does that mean, does that mean that the plane has gone down? >> look, more than likely that is the situation. is with a relatively short flight of two and a half hours four hours endurance is probably the likely amount of fuel it had on board. i guess from a positive point of view and it's still very early stages of the investigation so it's probably best not to speculate but one i guess encouraging aspect was that it was daylight hours and if there was a controlled ditching at the sea because we know that it was over the south java sea at the time that the communications were lost, that at least it was during daylight hours. so if there was ocontrolled ditching then that is a lot more positive, if it were du

airasia shares getting hammered. the stock of the company that flies that aircraft shares are down 8%. the biggest one day drop in eight years. the missing jet is damaging the reputation of the low-cost carrier. the airline has had no fatal crashes in more than a decade of operations. it is regularly named the best low cost airline in asia. the ceo tony fernandes has been reaching out to the public through social media since the jet disappeared calling this quote his worst nightmare. my heart bleeds for all of the relatives of my crew and our passengers. it is low cost airlines like this that have opened up travel and convenience to millions of people in asia. 20 years ago, it was difficult and cost prohibitive for the average person to fly. >> indonesia is a huge nation made of hundreds of islands. >> before that it was long and dangerous ferry travel. a different landscape because of the low cost airlines. a $90 million airliner disappearing. >> so many questions remain this morning. we will follow this breaking ne

the airasia wreckage is in a shallow part of the java sea.ater is less than a hundred feet deep in some places. that doesn't necessarily mean the search is going to be easy as we just talked about with tom foreman. joining me to explain the difficulties are sea operations specialist tim taylor and meteorologist chad myers. but, chad i think i want to start with you because we know weather was such a factor we believe it was a factor in this plane coming down. we know that it's a major factor in that area. at this time of year, what are we talking about weather wise? >> it's kind of ironic. i can show you this graphically, but the weather gets bad in the morning at sunrise and it gets better at sunset exactly opposite of what you'd like. typically in america we think of the weather getting bad at 4:00 5:00, that's when the storms build. let me take you back 24 hours and show you the storms again, just like yesterday, built last night. they got bad again in a big long line across the same area that the plane was lost. in the same area that they

" #stay strong airasia. our thoughts and prayers are with all family and friends of those on board qz8501." let's take you back now to our meteorologist derek van dam. you have been giving us so much vital interesting information about what perhaps this airliner was flying through, derek, when they made the call that they needed to deviate and find a different route. >> no doubt, natalie there, was extreme rough weather in the area at the last point of contact with this particular missing plane. but pilots, keep this in mind, pilots are trained to fly around big thunderstorms. they want to prevent an uncomfortable flight for you and i. they want to make it as comfortable as possible, avoid areas of turbulence, which would be thunderstorms. it's just that these thunderstorms can form so quickly. the typical life span of a thunderstorm, for instance-s typically 45 minutes, and it can shoot up to altitudes of 40,000, even 50,000 feet. and that is really critical when we consider the altitude that they were asce

and we're just waiting to hear any word from airasia. there's been no hint of a possible briefing but if we do get word of that we will let you know what time that is expected. and we will certainly provide live coverage. among our team members on this story, cnn's will ripley. he is live for us in beijing. and will and i have been using the word surreal over and over because as you can see from the map you have indonesia, singapore and malaysia. so these are similar waters in the region where mh 370 still unsolved unsolved. that airplane out there somewhere and now we have this. and people watching there that suffered so much there in beijing, who never saw their loved ones again, probably feeling the fact that they certainly hope this is one air mystery, right now, that will be solved. and hoping against hope like they did on mh 370 that there is some sort of miracle and this plane is okay. >> reporter: sure because until they have the answer the closure, they really don't know what has happened yet. now there are obviously a lot of di

search for airasia flight 8501 is centers over the java sea. so far malaysia indonesia and singapore are spearheading the search, with hundreds of ships and preseason and planes. >>> and there's other news we also want to tell you about tonight, word of another tragedy in the waters between italy and albania coast guard officials are -- the flames tearing through the interior of that vessel. so far we know of at least one the it tallian vessel was en route to it tally when fire broke out on deck. some passengers say they heard explosions before the frames broke out, but the cause of the fire has yet to be determined. >>> the ongoing battle to wipe out sis r it's sit has claimed -- the guard says the brigadier general was assisting iraqi troops and volunteers defending a city north of baghdad, home to a major shiite shrine, he was in fact the highest ranking officer known to have been killed outside iran. iran meantime has sent military advisors to assist syria and if rack in battling soon any led rebels and extremist groups but denies sending a

help in the search for that missing airasia flight. the pentagon says it could include planes ships, perhaps underwater devices and the massive search is about to get under way for a third day as dawn is breaking over the java sea where officials fear the plane crashed with 162 people on board. we are covering all angles of the breaking news with our correspondents and expert guests including the former head of the national transportation safety board, debra hersman. we begin in surabaya indonesia with cnn's andrew stevens. andrew, give us the latest. >> reporter: brianna, as you say, dawn is just breaking here in surabaya. and the search aircrafts will be back in the air in the moment now. they have about an hour to get to the search zone which has now been extended. but so far as we head into day three of the search it's been a very fruitless and frustrating effort in the search ongoing. a massive search operation is under way to locate the missing aircraft with 162 people aboard. officials say 30 ships and 15 planes and helicopters

what can you tell us about airasia? being a budget airlines. in the break we were talking about the ceo, who's really been out in front and communicating. what can you tell us about airasia? >> the analogy i would give is it's the southwest in southeast asia. the u.s. carrier southwest. it started the low-cost model. tony fernandez took a little airline that was going nowhere and was going bankrupt. >> he's the president. >> yes. he took it over, managed to get the government to allow him to do it. he's fought every battle to get that airline into the air. and it's huge. and it's got subsidiaries in indonesia and in thailand and in other places. and he's got 160-odd a-320s with hundreds more on order. and he's got a long haul low-cost subsidiary airasia x. and it hasn't got a blemish. there's not been a safety issue concerning airasia. >> the question is about regulations. mary schiavo, do they have the same regulations we have here? >> no not exactly. every nation has their own regulations, and there are some differenc

he had 2300 hours flying with airasia. joe johns, cnn, washington. >> right now in indonesia, officials are hold ing aing a news conference updating about possible debris that could be linked to flight 8501. there was talk that a life jacket has been found, possibly an emergency chute which comes from a plane, which allows people to get off and turns into a life raft. this is the break through we believe that the officials have been waiting for. they say there's a number of objects in the ocean, and it's about six miles from where the plane was last spotted on radar. this comes on day three of the search for flight 8501. of course now they have found this debris and they are trying to move helicopters, as well as ships to get confirmation and to see if there are any survivors if does in fact turn out to be debris from flight 8501. we have heard from a number of indonesian officials over the past hour. they seem to be confident what they have found here is a debris field. from this point, they'll work back look at the curre

the families of 8501 on behalf of airasia, my condolences to all. words cannot express how sorry i am. lauren. >> mark albert in washington. allen pizzey joins us on the phone with the breaking developments. he's in the indonesian city of surabaya where flight 8501 took off on sunday. allen, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lauren. well, it's quite a scene here because many of the relatives of the victims have been staying here at the airport in a room. when the first pictures of a body floating in the water were broadcast on television. there was a monitor inside with some people going hysterical. local journalists outside looking on were disgusted that it should had been done. nonetheless, it was done. some of the pictures we have seen helicopter crewmen being lowered into the body to recover a body. we understand at least three have been winched up to helicopters and an indonesian navy ship. a co-pilot of a hercules said when they first spotted bodies they thought the people were waving help and suddenly realized that these are dead bodie

airasia is a discount airline based in malaysia.s looking after all the next of kin for my staff and passengers. we will do whatever we can. another tweet as your group ceo we will be there through these hard times. we will go through this terrible ordeal together and i will try to see as many of you. a tweet from malaysia transport minister reads deployed three vessels and three aircraft. we've been talking a lot of the mystery of this plane, air safety all of the above but at the end of the day it's about people. 162 people are now missing. and their families are, of course absolutely distraught. talk about your experience with malaysia 370 versus now and the lesson that the government and the company seem to have learned in terms of a quick response. >> reporter: certainly, dana those tweets you just read from the airasia ceo tony fernandez they are remarkably different from the initial response in the hours after mh-370 disappeared. keep in mind this is a very media savvy ceo to begin with. he has more than 900,000 twitter follo

our coverage continues of airasia 8051. they're searching for it. back in a moment. >>> we're continuing to follow the disappearance of airasia flight 8501. it is already being compared to the crash of another flight five years ago. air france flight 447. that passenger jet went down over the atlantic ocean now more than five years ago. it killed all 228 people on board. storms, severe storms, did play a role in that disaster. and they're also a potential factor in the case of this missing airasia jet. let me go straight to cnn aviation analyst mary schiavo, she joins us again from charleston, south carolina. also with us again, author of "air safety investigators" al diehl joins us on the phone from albuquerque. let me begin with you, al. when you look at air france 447 and this flight, both airbus planes, different models of airbus. both vanish during bad weather. but tell me a bit more about why we're hearing experts in these early hours comparing these two incidents? >> well, it's because we know that these so-called pitot tubes, these are the p

still no sign of course, of airasia flight 8501.airport officials have been meeting with family members. the information so far suggests that the plane is at the bottom of the sea. no firm confirmation on that of course that's the opinion based on information received. meanwhile, ships, planes helicopters resuming the search in what is a very broad area. before losing contact, one of the pilots asked to ascend to a higher altitude. pedram jauf hairy joins us now on what search and rescue teams are up against. this is as you've been telling us, a huge area. and i remember again, covering mh 370 and what they saw from the air there and how difficult it is to scan a vast ocean with white caps and everything else that's going on around you. >> absolutely. this time of year from october really into april, this is one of the worst weather places on our planet. it's right along the equator, it's where the convergence of weather systems is. we know some 1 million people displaced on the northern portion of malaysia, bordering thailand out t

airasia?that's correct, we do not know if that data is available and if it is available they have not released it yet. that is a very sophisticated system and it's a system to which the airline has to subscribe subscribe, even if the plane is equipped with it the plane has sob subscribeded. >> you have had many years of experience flying into a wide array of conditions. flying into a thunderstorm like this sounds very dangerous to someone like me but for someone like you it actually happens all the time? >> it does and let me qualify your question we don't fly into thunderstorms, the whole objective is to deviate around the thunderstorms. the more experience we have the more we have a good idea of what each individual thunderstorm may do. it's a pure automation stand point from the radar, what it may show us however we're able to control that radar with some certain ---with dials and switches but we use a heavy select mode most of the sophisticated airplanes that we fly in this day and age, we

families of those on board airasia flight 8501 did not want to hear.ating in the sea are from the missing airbus. officials tell nbc news that rescuers have already recovered three bodies and located three others. now, this is in the waters off the borneo island. officials say crews had earlier spotted a life jacket part of the plane and other objects reportedly even a piece of luggage. the indonesian president has just arrived at the crisis center where he is meeting with families there. the grim news comes as crews were beginning to wrap up the third day of search and rescue efforts. >>> the united states had just sent the destroyer uss sampson to assist in the multinational search. also indonesian officials had agreed to allow families of those on board to fly over the search area as early as tomorrow to pay their respects and for some to pray. now they're learning the tragic fate of their loved ones. airasia ceo tweeted this somber message to those families saying my heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved in qz 8501. on behalf o

according to airasia there are 162 souls on board at the time. right now, there are just a few boats out there in the java sea scouring looking for any sign of the plane possibly near singapore. there is a more intense search scheduled to continue in the morning as daybreak comes. >>> leland, thank you. a college president is so confident his graduates will land well-paying jobs he's guaranteeing it. >> if college alumni do not make $37,000 a year they will pay all or part of their loan to an insurance company. the president of adrian college is joining us jeffrey daugherty is joining us now it sounds too good to be true. how does it work? >> it's not too good to be true. we took an insurance policy out on every incoming freshman this year. if they don't make $37,000 the day after they walk across the graduation stage, all of their student loans will be reduced quarterly. they have to get a job and have to work 30 hours a week, so they cannot milk the system but other than that, they are all set. if you look at any survey right now, college loans

this is airasia's first crash. among debris, a blue suitcase carried away that appeared to be in perfect condition. they found a life jacket and oxygen tank. and of course it's been a tough past couple of days for family members who have watched what was unfolding on indonesian television. you see them crying. they saw the images of the floating body and debris. very tough to take. they've been waiting for updates at the airport where the flight had departed. we hear of a man watching the images, hearing the news and collapsing and having to be taken out on a stretcher. >> it must be so difficult, they have to get on a plane to get closer to get answers but their loved ones just went down on plane. just emotional torture. >> absolutely. that's why airasia and the ceo tweeting and speaking to family members saying we're really sorry, we're devastated as well and now trying to make it as easy as possible to get to where the family members need to go. >> thank you very much, steph. >> new this morning, prosecutors in

airasia flight 8501. we will be watching the latest developments regarding this missing airasia flight here live in the digital operations center. live, i'm matt delucia, "nbc 10 news." >> thank you matt. >>> in other news members of law enforcement from pennsylvania new jersey, and delaware joined thousands from across the country to say farewell to a falling nypd officer. the funeral for officer rafael ramos was held at a queens church yesterday. he and his partner wenjian liu were shot and killed while they shall in their patrol car. the gunman was seriously troubled, then killed himself. colleagues said they felt a sense of duty to attend yesterday's service. >> this is what law enforcement is about. it's about family. about brotherhood. sisterhood. really hits close to home when you hear an officer's lost his life. >> after the service, the body of officer ramos was carried out of the church with family members of his slain partner standing by. some nypd officers watching on a big screen just outside