let's bring in alastair on the phone from london.t do you make of the images we are seeing? >> tragedy unfolding before the world's media. it is a very very sad thing to see. as a pilot, this is one of the horrors one hopes one rarely sees. you know it does happen from time to time. the focus right now will be on recovering the bodies and identifying them and notifying all of the families in the best possible way. i heard earlier there was discussion about the handling of this disaster following lessons learned on the mh-370 aircraft which disappeared. of course this is not managed or run by the malaysian government as the malaysia airline was. this is a privately owned company. it will be i imagine, more sensitive toward its customers and customer relations. hopefully it will handle it in a far better way than the malaysian government did. >> from where we have seen so far, there have been relatively compact debris fields. what does that tell you how this plane hit the water? >> if that is the case it would indicate the aircraft was

joining us live on the phone, former pilot alastair alastair rosenscheim.e flown in the area of malaysia and singapore and indonesia. you have flown in the flight path of the busy sea lanes. what is it like to fly in the area this time of year with the monsoon monsoon-like conditions? >> you have radar from the moment you takeoff to the moment of touchdown of destination because of the storms that lie in the area. this is a common thing. he had been in the area for 6,000 flying hours. that is a lot of experience. so you know it is a question of whether you get caught out in one of these storm cells or not. you know the speculation and that is what analysts have been doing, speculating as to what happened. most people seem to think it is a weather-related incident. there could be other factors involved. i just want to put one fact out there. that is the aircraft had a fuel range that would allow the aircraft to go up to 600 miles or so from the point at which it last disappeared. at the moment the search area is 240 by 240 nautical miles. so there is an outs

alastair what do you make of it? >> first of all, my condolences to the families and to the crew's families of the aircraft. this is a tragic result to this aircraft. just to point out where this lies in the sea. apparently about 300 miles northeast of jakarta which is central java western java. you know we have been speculating about whether this was brought down as going through a thunderstorm. that was purely speculation. now it looks certain. they found the aircraft. they should recover the flight data recorder and cockpit recorder. they will piece together what happened to the aircraft. the possibly that could have occurred flying into a thunderstorm is that a likely cause, would have been loss of control of the aircraft or aircraft actually breaking up in the severe turbulence and icing conditions there. you know one really has to hold off on deciding what may have happened and wait patiently for the investigators to piece it together. unlike the missing malaysia airline mh-370 we will find out what happened to

i want to bring in alastair rosenschein, aviation expert.t do you make of this news now that they've called off that search because of the bad weather, alastair? >> it's not surprising anybody who has been in that area during a thunderstorm downpour will know it's quite impossible to even walk down street. you have to take cover because the sheer weight of water falling is immense. then you get the downdrops as well. on the sea it will be even more predictable because of very large waves that conform very quickly in these equally conditions. >> we know that authorities say there's about 100 feet of depth there. even though you have this terrible weather, they think they know sonar has found where the bulk of this wreckage is. so once the weather clears, they know exactly where to search alastair. they'll be looking for the black boxes. walk me through that process, walk me through how they're going to find them and where they're located on the airplane. >> okay well first of all, i'm speaking from experience from what i've read in previous r

>> we've seen it recently but alastair is correct.as accidents that were far more common than they are now in which a pilot flies a perfectly good aircraft into the ground. technology has all but eliminated those kinds of accidents. but as steve mentioned, the asianic crash in san francisco, it raised questions about pilot's ability to really understand what their plane was doing in critical moments under high stress. >> what's your experience with that question going back to turbulence? >> so just -- well turbulence weather turbulence there are two kinds of weather that can be catastrophic. convected weather which is turbulence lightning, and severe icing. >> my understanding was that planes could survive a lightning strike that ice is the big -- >> they are quite frequent. ice is less of an issue with jet aircraft -- ice is in a ten degree temperature band and go up and through it so fast airplanes are capable of handling that too. just to chime in on this automation issue. i agree with them that automation has bean huge boom to saf

we appreciate you joining us again, alastair rosen1450i7b from sussex.ake a break and have more after this. ♪ ♪ ♪ wellllll... ♪ ♪ earlyfit ♪ ♪ latefit ♪ ♪ risefit ♪ ♪ fallfit ♪ ♪ ballfit ♪ ♪ wallfit ♪ ♪ pingfit ♪ ♪ pongfit ♪ ♪ pingfit ♪ ♪ pongfit ♪ ♪ rowfit ♪ ♪ throwfit ♪ ♪ slowfit ♪ ♪ olliefit ♪ ♪ oopsfit ♪ ♪ otisfit ♪ ♪ thiswayfit ♪ ♪ thatwayfit ♪ ♪ daddyfit ♪ ♪ pappyfit ♪ ♪ datefit ♪ ♪ weightfit ♪ ♪ goalfit ♪ ♪ gooooooalfit ♪ ♪ stepfit ♪ ♪ stairfit ♪ ♪ smartfit ♪ ♪ heartfit ♪ ♪ spinfit ♪ ♪ bikefit ♪ ♪ hikefit ♪ ♪ yikesfit ♪ ♪ wheeeeefit ♪ ♪ wowfit ♪ ♪ whoafit ♪ ♪ findyourfit ♪ ♪ it's all fitbit ♪ >>> well the search goes on around the java sea for the missing asia airliner. nobody knows what happened to it. nobody knows the fate of the passengers and certainly the flight data recorders, if this flight is found, would answer a lot of questions. >> those flight data recorders actually have their own beacons, once they hit the water, they should start sending out the -- >> pings. >> the pings. but these are crucial. rachel crane explains what can be foun

thank you, alastair. airasia shares are down 8% right now. biggest one day drop for the stock of the company that flies the plane. malaysia airlines took a similar hit. the stock was taken off the stock market as part of the government plan. airasia, in a different position than malaysia. it is regularly voted the best low cost air carrier. ceo tony fernandes called this his worst nightmare. he tweeted this keeping positive. my heart bleeds for the relatives of my crew and our passengers. you just think about how these low cost asian carriers have transformed the landscape for the last 20 years. the $100 million aircraft can transform your economy. >> it is interesting to hear from tony fernandes. a different level of engagement now than from nine months ago. >> it is sad to having to make the comparisons. we will continue to follow the latest on the airasia flight 8501. >>> first, happening right now. a ferry on fire with hundreds on board. a painstaking slow rescue already turning deadly. we are live as survivors make their way to safety. t

thank you so much alastair rosenshine.e thank you for your time. >> of course the family members are waiting to find out any news. they are desperate to find out about those who were on board that plane. and that includes these teenage girls. they're friends. their parents flying to singapore to spend new year's eve with them. when they found out that the plane never arrived, they traveled to surabaya to find out what happened to their parents sghchlts there. >> there are going to be so many stories of people on this plane. and there were 17 no-shows. >>> now we are going to move on not other story we're tracking the ferry burning in the adriatic sea. that ferry has been burning for more than 24 hours. and you're looking at video we received recently passengers arriving in italy. that gentleman working his way down the stairs. you can tell he is injured in some way. his feet are wrapped and he seems barely able to walk. our reporters have been telling us that even though they were from freezing temperatures the ship was ve

so in that regard, we try to avoid them to the best of our knowledge, as my pilot/colleague alastair has commented about. it may have been a scattered area or embedded area of thunderstorms that they i tried to deviate around, and we yes, we do have control of the airplane, and nobody on the ground can control the airplane. we use autopilot in a heading select, and we will turn to the heading that the radar will select that will take us out of the worst, and the industry standard is 20 miles away from the storm to prevent turbulence and all of the bad things associated with it. and now, alastair has flown in that specific area and which have flown in the tropical interconvergence zone in south america, and looking at the intense standards, not as intense as this, but the storms they tend to park in the same areas, and the pilots can predict it before they take off. it is a dynamic environment, but we have the ability to use the radar to the fullest extent and to move around it, and in deference to the climb, we are all speculating here. maybe he wanted a better ride for the passenger

we thank you very much for your perspective, aviationist alastair rosenshine. we will take a break and have more on this breaking story after this. >> technology gives you security. technology gives you control and now technology gives you home security and control in a new and revolutionary way. introducing plug & protect from livewatch security, an easy to use wireless security system customized just for your home. control from any smartphone, tablet, or computer and monitored by professionals 24/7. go to livewatch.com to get plug & protect interactive security delivered to your door. arm or disarm your system from anywhere. lock or unlock your doors, turn your lights off or on even oversee your home with live video. with plug & protect your security system is configured, tested, and then shipped directly to your home. no wires, no installers, just peel and place. go to livewatch.com because with plug & protect we customize your security to fit your home. the plug & protect secret is technology. with technology, you buy airline tickets without a travel agent

alastair what do you make of the fact that there are seven bodies recovered, but most of them are stillissing? >> well it's very difficult to tell from with such patchy information. of but it would suggest that the aircraft has broken up in some way or another. and it's possible it could have happened in flight. but even more likely it happened on impact with the sea. and you know in these situations one can't really speculate with any degree of certainty until the black boxes are recovered but, you know in the thunderstorm conditions that you have in this area it is possible that the engines on the twin engine aircraft can actually flame out because of the heavy -- simply the weight of water that enters engines. and that can cause the aircraft to descend. so there is an outside chance that this was in some way partially controlled to the descent to the water. it would be impossible to do a successful ditching in some tomorrow conditions at night over rough seas. so it is as i say, so many different scenarios that might have happened. but clearly the aircraft has in some way ruptured to

alastair kemp is a director of genetics alliance u.k. >> through the 11 centers people will be recruited. they'll have blood samples taken, it will be sent to a laboratory. it will be linked to the medical history, their physiology, their continue, so that the links between the change in the d.n.a. can be identified. that way you can understand the processes going on and nab develop cures or protective strategies. >>> in argentinian, a court ruled an orangutans has some of the same legal rite as humans. she has lived in this zoo and her cognitive abilities give her the same right to live ruled a court >>> russia launched a new rocket into space. moscow is planning to increase investment and drop out in favour of building its own. the plummeting price of oil could pose economic challenges to their plan to re start the space race. >> a little christmas new year's cheer for the people of russia, ending a horrible year, with a maiden launch for the garra 5 rocket. the first launch in two decades. more than two years in the planning and will face a pay load into orbit, 36,000km above the equa

let's go live to alastair. he's in los angeles. it looks like the hackers have won. >> it would look so. the theaters decided not to run the film, and sony gave them the option to decide. they stepped in just a short time ago and said they would not release the film on christmas day. it was a short statement, but they sent the attackers hack where they took huge amounts of data and unreleased film was an unprecedented criminal assault against our employees, our customers, and our business. and that these attackers sought to destroy our spirit and our morale, all apparently to sport the release of a movie they didn't like. thwart the release of a movie they didn't like. it appears they got their way. quite amazing, the power of hackers, it looks like. -- >> amazing, the power of hackers, it looks like. greece appears to be on the road to crippling recession. plunging back into uncertainty, the markets are nervous. the greek parliament failed to back the government choice for a new president, but if someone is not approved by the 29t

england's captain alastair cook recorded another failure. he was out one in the first and eventually all out in 202. sri lanka, they take the series. >> in golf's final round of the alfred dunhill championship in south africa. this is his second in that trio on the 17th hole. the game suddenly improved for the player ranked 273rd in the world, but he still leads. he was level par on saturday, and just one shot clear of the field going in to sunday's final round. >>> in world cup slalom, despite bees set a tough target by the season's over all leader, it was the swede who was quickest pietilae-holmner tied for her first win in four. now for one adrenaline-filled sport to another, this eight-year-old sport is similar to formula one racing. >> reporter: races often take place out of sight far from shore sometimes on the horizon. not this. extreme sailing is known as stadium sailing, high performance boats kept on exceptionally tight course and right next to shore. >> to keep it exciting for the public and keep the sailors to hone in on their sk

england capital aalst stair cook -- alastair cook missing. james taylor hitting 90, england scoring 265. sri lanka going well, 156-2. australian captain michael clarke should be fit to play in the first game since the death of philic hums. . claek is recovering. the team decided to wear hughes's test cap number. there'll be 63 seconds at the start of play in recognition of hughes's final unbeaten score. >> i think this has been as important four day lead up to a test match that i have ever been involved in. there's a lot of demons that we had to find our way through. so - from the test perspective once we get out there, in front of a great crowd, it's a great ground here in adelaide. everyone is competitive, up and running >>> pakistan's off-spinner mohammed has been banned from bowling after his action was found to be illegal. he was reported during the match in new zealand. computer analyst confirms his arm bends too much during a delivery. >> after recovery from a career threatening knee injury, lindsay von is back into winning ways. two r

. >> alastair you've written that this plane will be found, that this is not going to remain a mysteryw certain are you and why do you say that? >> well you know i'm not absolutely certain, but historically we do find the aircraft. the malaysia mh-370 was rather an exception. the main reason is that they only had an hour and a half fuel onboard at the time that the aircraft disappeared off radar. now, if it indeed would have descended and, therefore, went all the way down to sea level or ground level, that is probably why i felt reasonably confident that they would find it. how quickly they will find it i don't know. obviously i can't be certain. no one can be certain in these cases but, you know no one expected the previous malaysian n mh-370 to never have been found after all of these months. it's quite extraordinary. so that's why i just feel that this is not -- there's no likely a repeat of that instance. >> the challenges of finding these planes are much lower, is the expectation than in the malaysia air flight. less abend and alastareir thank you for joining us. >>> we're learnin