indonesian tv reports that most of those on board this flight were indonesians, are indonesians i shoulder from singapore, one from the uk, and one from malaysia, all on board. now, we are standing by for a statement from the malaysia transport minister. that should be coming in to us any moment now, but it has not come through yet. let me tell you about the statement that was released by airasia indonesia a short time ago. it reads in part, "at the present time we unfortunately have no further information regarding the status of the passengers and crew members on board, but we will keep all parties informed as more information becomes available." if you are just joining us and you're wondering about this airline, airasia, let me bring in cnn's aviation correspondent richard quest who knows a great deal about this airline and its operations. richard, if you're still with us, just reset for our viewers, tell us a little more about this airline. you say it's a very reputable airline and it is the dominant airline in southeast asia. >> well, when i say that, we're talking about airasia the

the majority of them were indonesians. we're sharing this picture now from singapore where we know there's a help center with a number that people can call. as you see this woman on her screen clearly in distress as so many must be at this time. such a worrying time as they wonder, wait and pray in the hope that they will get more information about what has happened to their loved ones. renae marsh, i know you are still with us. you mentioned us speaking to the ntsb and about how any kind of involvement would have to be requested from the indonesians. if that request was made, what would that team look like that would be sent. what can you tell us about that? >> right. what we usually see in incidents like this is the team is launched. you have investigators with different specialties. they'd be looking at various issues once they arrived there on the ground. they want to focus in on the pilot, the pilot's experience. they would look at the human error factors. there would be someone else who would specialize in potential

it will be an indonesian investigation. what i'm looking at now, look at the route this plane was taking over the water. it was up 32,000 feet give or take. the altitude seems to have been bouncing up and down a little bit and the pilot flying requested a deviation because of bad weather. those are the facts as we see them at the moment. >> richard, every search and rescue operation has its own unique challenges as you well know. as you look at this unique situation, what are the challenges here? >> well, the first challenge without any doubt is to get assets. we know the malaysians and indonesians have already sent planes. get assets on the way. we've seen this in all sorts but we're a lot more experiences in explaining this and a lot more people understand. you're going to see the sort of picture that we saw before of planes flying over water with people looking for wreckage. now in the case of 370, well, they could have will beilooked and wouldn't have found it. in this case if the plane has come out of the sky as we now

that is the indonesian coast guard.ing to recover the bodies one by one as they see them. let me ask you this if a plane hits the water in tact is that all survivable from the altitude we are talking about? >> it depends on whether it is a controlled pitching in the sea or uncontrolled descent into the waters. uncontrolled descent would involve aircraft break up as the pitching. they could pull it off as indeed your great captain sullenberger did in new york. and the aircraft no doubt, lost control, or something of that nature. we cannot know yet. it would not have been something which is planned by the looks of the whole incident. i don't think this was a planned descent on to water. >> no mayday call. we will know when they find and hear from the voice data recorder what was happening on the flight deck. alastair thank you. breaking news in the search for missing airasia flight 8501. debris found in the sea. live team coverage after the break. huh, fif utes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. yeah

are you looking at the indonesian press? >> one of them is looking at a full-page about this airasia incident, whether it is a crass, we don't know at this point. the concern is that the vast majority of the people on board -- whether it is a crash, we don't know at this point. the concern is that the vast majority of the people on board are indonesians. we hear the anguish of various people in these incidents. we have the stories of those who have the lucky escape. one piece of this article is about a family of nine who missed an e-mail telling them to be at the airport earlier. they missed it. they were told they could go on the next one. they said they would think about it. as they were mulling that decision, they learned the plane they were supposed to be on was actually missing. an incredibly story of a lucky escape. they are heaving a huge sigh of relief. >> you are looking at an editorial in the indonesian language press? >> all the papers are looking at this. i was able to get a translation of this story in the paper

or are indonesian. what are you hearing from the indonesian government? what are they saying to your government? >> well firstly, they've expressed their gratitude to us. i had a chance to have a conversation with the indonesian ambassador here over the weekend. he's a really excellent, excellent man. and he expressed what had been expressed to our prime minister a thanks from the indonesian government for the work that we're doing in relation to surveillance. we do have a close relationship with indonesian. it is in many ways our most vital relationship. >> because it's right there. >> it's there. and it's 8,000 islands, ten times the australian population enormous number of indonesian students in australia. indeed it appears to be at least one of the folk on board the aircraft was a student at an australian university. so it's quite a -- in tourism, it's intermeshed. the foreign minister herself has said in recent times she traveled on an airasia aircraft -- >> she does travel on airasia. the eu has b

the pull being of the passengers are indonesians.erybody else will be providing assistance as necessary. >> and, tom, we're learning more about the airline itself. we know that it's popular in the region and a no frills carrier and connects a lot of the smaller, as you mentioned, the eye loondz to the major cities in southeast asia. and what would be the role? we know that president obama is actually notified of the missing plane. we know ntsb gets involved and throughout the world in some of the investigations. how would the united states play a role in this missing plane? >> the u.s. allow for any and all assistance as possible. so, you know, if we have naval ships in the area, research ships in the area, certainly they can be brought in and used to assist. i think that many countries will be offering any of the assets that can be brought to bear. a lot of that will depend on how long. you wouldn't have expected this to go this far and i think yet again that heightens the aspect of this that it's a mystery where that plane went dow

that's -- they're the pictures taken by the indonesian air force. this certainly is all pointing to very much the strongest lead we have had in the mystery of what happened to this flight. where these objects have been discovered also corresponds very closely with where the plane was last seen where it was trying to avoid a big storm. so the dots are starting to come together. we've been speaking to the indonesian air force, and they've given us something of a timeline. so 9:52 this morning, that would be a little more than four hours ago, an indonesian hercules spotted what the air force described as suspected debris from an airplane. now, 11:30, a little over an hour and a half later, a second plane in the air spotting more debris. then about 12:15, another indonesian air force hercules in slightly different area but all within the same zone sector five which has been the focus of this particular search seen taking pictures of that image of what looks like a life jacket. so that tends to suggest this is a debris field. the weather conditions we ar

the indonesian military police, and transport ministry are also helping.e instructed the vice president to. but so far, we have to tell it as it is. we do not know where the plane is. we asked for the strength and patience for all the families of the passengers and crew. >> with me now is my colleague from the bbc's indonesian service. is this the first time we've heard from the president? >> it is for the first time for the president to issue a statement on the missing plane, which gone yesterday morning local time. yes. but the government has been deploying resources, national agencies to try to find out where the plane is. >> it was a pretty heartfelt statement that he made. obviously everyone is thinking of the friends and family at the moment. fwou hear from the president, to use such emotional language that's unusual. >> it is. he used the word like shocked. but also he shares the sadness of the family, the family of the passengers and all the crews. as i said it was the first -- he is operating christmas in the eastern part of indonesia in the last

but the indonesian officials say there were ten large objects.y've photographed three, and many many smaller ones, white smaller objects which they couldn't photograph. from that description, that's the sort of debris trail that you would expect from an airplane that has sunk into the sea, as we saw with air france 447. but on the evidence, the photographic evidence we've got so far, i'm not convinced. we'll have to wait to see more from them. and they're also dispatching ships, i believe to the precise area to pick up these objects out of the water. >> i think that's what's so dangerous in reporting this, also what's so frustrating and anxiety-ridden for the families and loved ones. there is a sense that people want to jump on any information that's out there. the authorities, no doubt, want to provide some sort of answers. and as we heard and as we saw with mh 370, you've got to be so careful with these false leads, this wishful thinking clues. how difficult is it to assess on the ocean surface, what some debris might be and what others might n

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 bodies and not survivors. earlier today, relatives, representing a group, about five members representing relatives were flown by indonesian military or plane over the spot where more or less the plane was thought to have gon

service reporter of the bbc's indonesian service onboard an indonesian military aircraft that was scouring the java seas earlier today for any sign of that missing airline, that missing airplane. what she was able to tell us butt the time she spent on this aircraft is that search and rescue teams spotted two oil slicks in the area where it's thought the pilot last had contact with air traffic control in jakarta. now, this is just off the coast of the island in the java sea. as of yet, it's unconfirmed whether these oil slicks have anything to do with the missing airplane. now, we heard from the indonesian vice president just a few moments ago in this program. he was talking about how there is a huge effort to try and find any sign of this airplane. he spoke about the ships and the airplanes, the aircraft that have gone out into this area to try and find any signs of what could have happened there. he also added, in fact, in a later briefing that they're trying to mobilize as many people on the ground in the area to get as much information as they can. they've even asked fishermen in the ar

it was not in indonesian airspace when it went missing.a flight was within indonesia airspace. dwoent know what that will mean for the search. let's update ow the search plans. the australian government reached tout a dutch company to continue with its under sea search. we know they've earmarked quite a bit of money as well. $60 million earmarked. that's being matched by the malaysian government and they've said that they hope to -- this is optimistic expectation. that they hope to finish the scouring of the priority zone the so-called priority zone in the indian ocean by may 2015 but that's only if there weren't any technical difficulties or hiccups that has not been the case. some of the equipment that's being used. there have been some problems. that's led to some delays. for now both planes missing and another one added to the list. >> still very interesting that the search for mh 370 continues. now you have another search that's just begun. nick valencia thank you for pointing ought of that out. >> we are joined by cnn aviation analys

the president called for indonesians to celebrate new year modestly. he said that in his facebook account that he also calls for indonesians to remember the victims of airasia q 8501. the newest celebration will be going on in the capital. it will be proceeded by all faith prayers, especially for the victims of airasia 8501. >> in the press conference you've been describing, we're told the search and rescue operation is suspended today but will presumably begin as soon as sun is up tomorrow? >> yes it will begin as soon as daylight in indonesia. there have been hindered by poor weather conditions as i said before. strong winds and high waves. especially the poor visibility in which the official which we interviewed earlier only 10 to 20 meters which is really hampering the search and rescue operations. >> thank you very much for your from bbc indonesian. earlier i spoke to jeffrey thomas, editor of airline ratings.com about what the search needs to find out to work out what happened. >> absolutely critical to this is the black boxes, cockpit voice reco

spotted by an indonesian air crew.y're sending additional assets there to take a closer look at this search continues. 162 passengers on board en route from surabaya indonesia, to singapore disappeared in the skies off indonesia's coast. and we have new details about the captain of the missing flight. a veteran pilot whose final communication with air traffic control is a crucial lead in the search. joe johns is outfront. >> reporter: as is common in indonesia, he is known by only one name. pictures on facebook confirm at least one of his own hobbies. he was a fan of motorcycles. reports suggest he is a member of a motorcycle club. his daughter posted a picture of him on social media saying dad, please come home. i still need you. the family had recently suffered a loss. the captain's younger brother died of diabetes days ago. his father told the bbc, i want my son to come back alive. he was a veteran of the skies with more than 20,000 flying hours, of which 6,100 hours were with airasia on the air bus 320 biffle compa

family members will be briefed by indonesian officials. the plane with 162 people on board vanished flying from indonesia to singapore. let's bring in a professional aviation services pilot. he joins us from the phone from sydney australia. we have seen the photos. men in orange jumpsuits on a harness lowered into the ocean to try to retrieve the bodies. this search and recovery is moving quickly. >> yes, it will move quickly now. the discovery of the main body of the wreckage should not take long at all. they still have a couple of hours of daylight before they call that off for the night. they may be able to continue after dark with some spotlights. tomorrow will be a day of rapid movement. i think they will -- i could say they have a chance of finding the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder tomorrow. as soon as they find the main body of the wreckage they know where these are located within the fuselage of the aircraft. within that depth, they could send down divers and recover the recorders quickly if they are lucky. >> it

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 during daylight hours. but again it is very early

the indonesian president is currently on his way to meet with families at the crisis center. 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. indonesian officials had agreed to allow families of those on board to fly over the search area as early as tomorrow. some for prayer over that area where their loved ones were lost. and now they're learning the tragic fate of some of those loved ones. well this as we are finding more information there as this debris field has now been zeroed in in that area. rescuers now as night fall is coming in may now have to suspend that search as they have the past couple of days and resume it in the morning. certainly a big piece here of information now with some of this debris found in this area as well. indonesian officials say that they are 95% certain that this is in fact airasia flight 8501. joining me now is former corporate pilot anthony roman. we appreciate you being with us this morning for y

vast majority of those aboard are indonesian., malaysia singapore, the united kingdom and france. as we continue with our breaking news coverage we're jind by aviation expert julian gray and cnn aviation analyst mary schiavo. let's start with the weather and our meteorologist karen mcginnis who has the latest on the weather now and what search-and-rescue officials have to deal with there. >> what we're looking at right now is what we call a future radar. what they can expect as far as precipitation or thunderstorms, looking ahead in time. this goes for monday and into tuesday. this is the java sea. that's where the last transmission was or the lost aircraft. you can see there's kind of an effect. we got the daytime heating and thunderstorms start to build and then during the evening hours it releases the heat and quiet down. now sunrise is in singapore around 7:00 in surabaya around 5:30 in the morning. so better to start out early in the morning, essentially we're looking at those thunderstorms just kind of winding down. here's

this is the indonesian afl wrat that we're talking about here. they will make that comparison. >> we hope the outcome is very different. paula hand cox, thank you for that update. >> cnn meteorologist tom satre joins us now from the weather center. what do we know about the weather when the plane went missing? >> this is an ongoing process where for the last four and a half weeks, martin covering this at cnn international and our viewers international viewers know we've covered the floogsd in malaysia and indonesia. >> this time of year and two months ago it slides down. what we have seen is almost catastrophic. from the flooding that's been occurring, 300,000 displaced. over a million people now have been evacuated, and an ongoing humanitarian crisis. this has been going on for a while. the tremendous thunderstorms you're going to see here the bright red, or the colder cloud tops, they're dropping two, three feet of rain every two to three days in some cases. that's a month's worth of rain in two or three days, and it continues the next week and

. >> indonesian officials say debris embodies have been found from the missing air asia plane. we will talk live to an aviation expert about what might have happened. >> in our end of your series examining the big stories of 2014 from our own correspondence, we look at turkey -- how much is democracy under threat there? >> welcome to the program. the anti-kremlin politician, alexey navalny , has been detailed by police after he violated house arrest to join the protests in moscow. the demonstration was over a guilty verdict against him and his brother in a controversial fraud case. >> two dozen other people were also detained as hundreds gathered in central moscow where the opposition leader called on russians to take to the streets against vladimir putin. >> we will find out more live from the russian capital, but first we have this report. >> one outspoken creek at harsh words for the judge who called his brothers jailing an attempt by russian authorities to intimidate him. >> i'm ashamed of what you are doing. why are you putting him in jail? what a disgusting act. this is b

it was headed from the indonesian city of surabaya to singapore.e critical search now for the flight data recorder. let me bring in forensic audio expert paul ginsberg president of pro audio labs and les abend, flies a 777, and a contributing editor of "flying" magazine. this is a question we asked time and time again after mh-370 disappeared, and that is realtime streaming data. why is it we still do not have realtime streaming data so that someone on the ground can know at all times exactly what's going in the cockpit, exactly what is happening? >> well it's a matter of cost. now, we do have some aspect of streaming data in the form of adsb automatic dependent surveillance broadcast information which uses broadcast so on and so forth. the north atlantic uses it all the time. the particular area of the country you refer to in mh-370 that was available but there was only a certain point of it available that was subscribed by malaysia airlines. so it comes down to cost. iko that mary schiavo mentioned -- >> with the regulators. >> the regulation tha

we have some pictures that were given to us by the indonesian government waiting by divers the chief of search and rescue for the city who is very involved in this. he told us that this belief is that most of these bodies are still on the fuselage strapped to their sheets and will require drivers to go under the plane to recover most of the bodies. it is his belief and others belief here many are strapped to their seats in the fuselage t. water is not that deep. it's about 100 feet most. it's very shallow. it is very rough and making the search and rescue difficult. there are so many sad stories. it gets to you after a while. we hope we can give them support as citizens of the world. also this man lost his sister brother, two nieces and a nephew. we talked to him about what he is going through. listen. >> when we had the information, firstly, of course we hoped our family members were safe and thought of nothing, until yesterday morning an afternoon, we still hoped we would get a miracle that our families are still alive. because my mother my sister we were very close. >> reporter: t

indonesian officials say 45 minutes later

indonesian transport authorities say the pilot asked the control tower for permission to turn left and fly at a higher altitude to avoid dense clouds. the plane lost contact five minutes after, and it disappeared from the radar one minute later. the airasia flight went missing somewhere between the islands of kalimantan and belitung after taking off from the indonesian city of surabaya. leaders from indonesia, singapore, malaysia and australia have sent military ships and aircraft to the region. the weather was bad when the plane lost contact. storm clouds were seen in the area. >>> more than 100 passengers are trapped on a ferry that caught fire in the adriatic sea. one person has died. italian and greek rescue crews are battling rough seas and bad weather to reach the vessel. the ferry was heading from patras in western greece to the central italian city of an kona. it caught fire off greece on sunday. a greek company operating the ship carrying 478 people. about 300 of them have already been rescued. but many are still stranded on board. italian media say one person died after jumpi

and we're told they're been in touch with the indonesians and the indonesians will likely lead the investigationtsb says they are monitoring the situation. they are ready to provide some technical assistance if they are asked for it. back to you. >> yeah i mean that's the question will they ask for help, the indonesians? with a lot of regional support will they reach out to the ntsb here in the states? we don't know yet. >> as we've been saying, they're treating it a lot differently to how we saw the mh370 issue treated. we'll have more at the top of the hour. >> we'll also have more on the other big story we're following for you here on cnn, the latest on the ferry on fire off the coast of greece with nearly 300 people trapped on board. stay with cnn, we'll be right back. push your enterprise and you can move the world. ♪ ♪ but to get from the old way to the new you'll need the right it infrastructure. from a partner who knows how to make your enterprise more agile, borderless and secure. hp helps business move on all the possibilities of today. and stay ready for everything that is still to co

let's speak with bbc indonesian service journalist live with us here. you've been watching a press conference in the last hour. what have you been told about the rescue operation? >> the head of operation said seven bodies have been recovered so far, four males and three females. he also said that the two bodies already flown to surabaya for identification. he didn't say anything about nationality of bodies which have been recovered. during a separate interview that we did with the search and rescue operation official he said the poor weather conditions, strong winds and two meter waves hampered the rescue search. the 10 meters is why they'll continue operation tomorrow. >> did they find the plane itself? we heard reports of the shadow of the outline of the plane in the sea. have they been able to identify the lodge? >> they haven't been able to find that. during the press conference the rescue search operation said that they so far couldn't find the body of the plane. >> we saw a couple of minutes ago people in new zealand celebrating the new year. i'm

most are indonesians on this flight.h three south koreans, one singaporean, one from malaysia and one french person on board. we've also learned that among the passengers were 17 children including one baby. the ceo of airasia, tony fernandes, right now is on his way to surabaya where this flight originated. earlier he tweeted this short statement -- "thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. we must stay strong." we're hoping to get some updates from airasia as soon as they learn something, but we haven't heard anything in a while. we want to give you some of the key times for this flight that disappeared. it departed the airport in surabaya indonesia at 5:35 a.m. local time sunday morning. 5:35 in the morning. it's just a two-hour flight. the plane lost contact with air traffic control at 7:24 a.m. a little less than two hours after it took off. it was originally scheduled to arrive after 8:30 a.m. in singapore. excuse me. that would be about -- there's an hour change difference. so again, not to be confusing here b

reports that an air asia indonesian flight is missing. it was travelling from the indonesian city of surabaya to singapore. air traffic control tell us they lost contact with it more than four hours ago. 150 are estimated on board. once again, this air asia indonesia flight gone missing near belitung island. as soon as we get more information we'll pass it to you >>> also ahead - the minimum wage - many want to see it raised to $15. what is could mean for employees, business owners and the economy. >>> tonight we take a deeper look at the minimum wage a subject of debate. the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 was set in july 2009. the minimum wage was introduced in the 1930s adjusted to $2,012, it peaked in 1968. back then it was $1.60. the equivalent today is $10.94. a full-time working making minimum wage earns over $15,000, just above the poverty line. if that person is the soul earner for a family of three, it puts them $3600 below the poverty line. as of january 1st, '29 states plus the distribute of columbia will have a minimum

in the meantime, the indonesian government is still calling this a search and rescue mission. a c-130 plane from singapore joined the search as the search for 8501 flight has turned up nothing. the airbus 320 jet carrying 162 people aboard was first reported missing on sunday. but now two days into the search and time is quickly running out on finding survivors. >> we pray for them. we realize the worst thing that may happen. >> the search area is 240 by 240 nautical miles. this morning, crews found what looked like an oil slick in the java sea. but their remains conflicting reports that indonesian reports that it's not the plane. >> we're confident in our ability to fly people and continue to be strong and continue carrying people who never before do fly -- could fly before. >> last time air traffic controllers heard from the flight was 42 minutes into the route. the plane's pilot asked for an altitude change because of severe thunderstorms but was denied that request because of another plane flying at that altitude. what's even more puzzling, no distress calls were made. >>

we hope as far as possible. >> reporter: also in the afternoon an indonesian affairs indonesian air force official said something was spotted in the sea. every time it led to false hope of those waiting on word of their families. scott heidler surabaya, indonesia. >> all surviving passengers have been successfully lifted from a ferry that caught fire near the italian coast on sunday. eight people are known to have died while several others have been taken to the port city of bari. to be checked out by medics. simon mcgregor wood has more. >> after many hours adrift the operation to residue passengers of a ferry had caught fire offer the italian coast has lasted more than aday. while helicopters from the greek and italian navies have befer been ferrying people to the nearby hospital he. >> a doctor has been checking to see if some of the passengers need to be transported to the hospital. or at the center we have established at the cruise terminal. jr. the fire is >> reporter: the fire is now under control. it is thought that the vessel will be towed to an italian port when the conditions a

i would direct you to the indonesian government to speak to that one., located in a defined search box and conducting the search areas in that box as tasked by the indonesian government. >> with that sonar and there is the side scan sonar that may be at the disposal. lieutenant lauren cole thank you so much. i want to bring in cnn law enforcement analyst tom fuentes safety analyst david sousi, and aviation analyst miles o'brien. david, i want to talk to you about the radar of the aircraft and where the debris was found, that the pilot was attempting a sea landing. why do you say that? >> if you calculate the drift angle or the glide path of the aircraft after engines have quit on it it's about 17 to one. if you calculate that out to the 120 miles, it just about comes out to 32,000 feet. so that indicates that glide path was long. it does not look to me as though it was a sudden stall as we had originally thought because it was misreported that the impact point was about six miles from where the radar picked it up last. there are others that substantiate

you're talking about the band on the indonesian carriers.hese were airlines in indonesia regulated by the indonesians, including the national carrier at one point. they all -- they were on the so-called blacklist for the european union. many of the carriers have gone back onto -- they can now fly. but when we talk about indonesia airasia, we have to be a little bit careful. there is an element of semantics about this. yes, it's regulated by indonesia. but as an airline, indonesia airasia is part of the airasia group. and 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 i

that helps indonesians travel regionally. oftentimes it's the only way to go from one island to another. people have talked about how this suspected crash tops off a tragic year for malaysian-based airlines. but lucy says if airasia did go down, no one should read into it. the company has a good safety record and has never lost an airplane. >> many indonesians, you know they are losing the service of airasia. and then so much, it's just coincidence. >> reporter: the missing airbus a-320 was delivered to airasia in october of 2008. airbus says it has 23 flight hours. the last scheduled maintenance was november 16th. live in san francisco, nannette miranda, nbc bay area news. >> thanks nanette. our coverage of the missing asia air flight continues on air and online. we'll have the latest today on the bay from 4:30 to 7:00 tomorrow morning. a shooting in sunnyvale sent one man to the hospital and two men to jail. officers found the victim about 3:00 this morning at a home on north fair oaks avenue near east taylor. the man was s

that has been offered and accepted by indonesian officials. the australians had provided an australian aircraft. a sophisticated aircraft and that has been searching through the area. it's a big area about 200km stretch, if you will in the java sea and they have been searching since the sun rose this morning, hours ago. we are expecting to hear from the vice president of this country, that was supposed to happen a couple of hours ago. we have been waiting for him. it doesn't mean that he'll have a big announcement. he has become the face of this crisis for the government in indonesia. he most likely will give an update. probably meeting with family members and loved ones of those on the aircraft. they are here in terminal 2 at the airport from where the plane took off. >> no doubt, scott the families of the missing passengers are distraught and waiting for any form of information on their loved ones. what help is being offered to them? >> what's been offered to them is assistance in any way to be housed here. they are the first ones to know wh

we have been reporting about 45 minutes into the flight this is according to indonesian officials.ey say the pilot requested permission to change altitude because of this traech us are weather conditions that he was facing. our cnn's erin mcpike is joining us from washington. what do we know snt president has been notified of the missing plane some time ago. and ntsb will have a role as well. what is the united states role in this international effort to find this plane? >> suzanne, president obama and first lady were out to dinner with friends when the news broke. but during that time white house spokesman eric shultz confirmed the president was briefed on this airasia flight. he said white house officials will continue to monitor the situation but we should point out that there is a slight less urgency in this particular situation because there weren't any americans on the flight. it is a smaller asia based airline. american companies have to deal with the faa to determine some of the technical issues. but we should point out that the u.s. will most likely provide financial aid a

the indonesians will likely lead the investigation. at this point the ntsb says they are monitoring the situation. they are ready to provide some technical assistance if they are asked for it. back to you. >> the company reeling this morning. 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 island

and indonesian transportation official said the request was denied due to traffic. some time between 6:17 and 6:24 a.m. airasia flight 8501 lost contact with indonesian air-traffic control. there was no distress signal. vie lent thunderstorms were reported at the time the plane disappeared. weather reports show it vanished in airspace thick with dense storm clouds as high as 44,000 feet. the pilot has been identified as captain-- who had over 20,000 hours of flying experience. on the ground the airline information boards were an ominous reminder that something terrible had happened. instead of a routine arrival time a terse message advising relatives to contact the airline. desperate friends and family huddled into the airport anxiously scouring passenger manifests. airasia tony fernandez missed his loved ones but struggled to bring hope to a hopeless situation. >> a terrible feeling of loss right now. but i think the indonesian authorities are doing their best now for search-and-rescue. >> the airline has set up an information center at the airport in surabaya wher

most on board are indonesians. but we're also told that there are three south koreans, one singaporean. one person from france and one from malaysia. we've also learned among the passengers, there were 17 children, including an infant. the ceo of airasia, highly regarded businessman, who really brought this airline back many years ago made it extremely viable. it's a no-frills budget airline. he tweeted a short statement "thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. we must stay strong." we are looking at footage as people learned that flight went missing. we are told that there are care centers set up for families and there is a number for families to call. but right now, no word on what exactly has happened to this airplane. and even though there is a search by sea and air, conditions are still extremely poor. this is a time of year when they get hammered by thunderstorms. it's the monsoon season. and no word yet on any sight of anything that has been found. julian bray is an aviation expert based in the united k

they are going to be repatriot rated to the indonesian airport. indonesia's president is on his way there to oversee the operations and see what's going on. so extremely sad news. the relatives and friends of the 162 passengers on board were gathered at indonesia's search and rescue headquarters about two hours ago to start getting news. before the news of the bodies we have news of an object confirmed in the search area. these objects are indeed confirmed to be from 8501. we are talking about parts from a plane, red and white colored with the colors of airasia. escape chutes, life rafts, life jackets, even luggage and baggage floating there. so what has been found, indonesian officials say now they are confirming it is debris from 8501. as you can imagine, the relatives and friends of the people on board this flight not taking the news well. the pain and the grief acute. the head of airasia tony fernandez has weighed in. on twitter, he posted or tweeted saying my heart is filled with sadness for all the families involved on qz 8501. on behalf of

the indonesians will likely lead the investigation. at this point, the ntsb says they are monitoring the situation. they are ready to provide some technical assistance if they are asked for it. back to you. >> thank you for that. investors are selling airasia. this missing jet is damaging the reputation of the carrier. the airline has had not downed flights in the more than ten years of operation. tony fernandes, the coeo of the company says my heart bleeds for the relatives of our crew and passengers. >>> 12 minutes past the hour. another breaking story. the efforts to reach passengers trapped on a smoldering greek ferry off the coast of italy. italian coast guard says one person has died there. more than 300 passengers had been rescued. rough weather is hampering to save others still on board that vessel. cnn's elinda labropoulou is live via skype this morning. >> reporter: we know more people have been rescued. over 350 people have been rescued. more than two-thirds of people rescued. still close to 150 people remain on the ship. pr

indonesian be officials say they monitored the jet for another half hour before lotion contact. the flight was due to land at 8:00 eastern last night and families understandably and we've seen this before, desperate for any sign of what may have happened to this plane. the saga is unfolding. less than ten months after malaysian mh-370 went missing. despite that massive international search that went on for months there's still no trace of that aircraft or the 239 people aboard. >> our cnn aviation correspondent rene marsh is live in washington. rene you have been on the phone working your sources with airbus and ntsb. first of all, tell us if anything have we learned from airbus about this aircraft and what they believe has happened and unfolded in the hours? >> well, at this point we know that this was a pretty young aircraft. six years old. it was delivered in october of 2008. so a little bit over six years old. very young when you're talking about an aircraft as far as the standards for how old these aircraft usually are or how long they can essentially fly for before being s

he's speaking indonesian right now. so let he give you a quick recap of what has been asked.here was one particular question about whether the australian air force had found debris in the field. there had been some reports of that. the vice president saying at this point it is not clear. he was also asked is it possible that survivors may have been found. he said it's still possible but of course we have to realize that the worse may have happened. this terms of how long the search will continue for, he referenced the crash of air france 447. he said that took many months. in fact it took two years. it took them a couple days before they spotted the first debris floating on the water. he did say he hoped this search would happen as fast as possible theree there. there was no team limit, and he said fishermen had been involved in the search. we will continue this news conference coming to us from indonesia for any of the latest news. >> you've been watching our special coverage. >> up next we join cnn usa for continuing coverage of the airasia plane. thanks for watching. >>> t

indonesia is leading the charge because it was an indonesian aircraft it happened in the indonesian airspace between these islands. singapore involved. malaysia. australia flying a p3 ryan four propeller plane that can fly low to the ocean surface and can look for signs of wreckage or survivors. and china now also involved now willing to contribute assets in the hours ahead. we're hearing local reports from local media they may be look at certain sections of the islands on land as well. borneo that major island shared by malaysian, indonesian and that smaller island to the west on the side of the java sea. certainly hope certainly a sense of momentum building that 48 hours in two days after the disappearance this is the moment to see if there can be any rescue if they can find any survivors. >> all right, david we know you're staying on top of it. we know you're tired. a long night there at surabaya airport. as we mentioned just a couple of hours until daybreak there when the search will resume for any trace of this plane and joining me now to discuss, mary schiavo cnn aviation analyst and i

and the indonesians will likely lead the investigation. at this point the ntsb says they are monitoring the situation. they are ready to provide technical assistance if they are asked for it. >> the area where this all happened is about 12 hours ahead of eastern time. it's about 4:25 in the morning there which means it will start getting light fairly soon. what do we know about how and when it will resume? >> it could be within an hour hour and a half. this is where the search and rescue agency says they will start looking once again. all the aircraft was grounded. what they have today is at least seven ships from indonesia, two helicopters. a couple of the neighboring islands playing off of contact with air traffic control. we have been told by the rescue agency that this is what they call a very broad search location. this isn't going be easy. they are trying to divide the search area up into four sections to make it a little easier. the wester could well be an issue. we know sl tl have been thunderstorms and visibility has been fairly b

. >> a few thousand indonesians live here in the bay area.contacted local conflict so far asking if a relative had been on the flight but the conflict general is ready to help. nbc bay area joins us live from their san francisco office with more. nanette. >> well terry, the indonesian consulate office says it may not have heard from anyone yet because it's been closed for the holidays. there are a fair number of them students and business men. many are very familiar with air asia as it is a low cost airline that helps i understand kneesians fly regionally. oftentimes it's the only way to travel from one island to another. like the families waiting in agony for word on the fate of the jetliner. a representative from information affairs here says they too are holding out hope that the plane will be found if there are survivors. better than anned lucy says singapore is a popular destination for indonesians and many passengers on the flight were likely going there to usher in 2015. >> just a christmas spirit where people were going tore holiday,