AirAsia Jet With 162 On Board Goes Missing Enroute To Singapore

(CNN) - The search is on for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that lost contact with Indonesian air traffic control Sunday. Before communication was lost, AirAsia Flight QZ 8501 asked to deviate from its planned flight route from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore because of weather conditions, AirAsia said in a statement.

Flight 8501 went missing at 7:24 a.m. Sunday (7:24 p.m. Saturday ET), nearly two hours after takeoff, as it flew over the Java Sea. From flight tracking websites, almost the entire flight path appears to be over the sea.

"At this time, search and rescue operations are being conducted under the guidance of the Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority," AirAsia said.

Of the people on board the Airbus A320-200, 156 are Indonesian, three are South Korean, one is French, one is Malaysian and one is Singaporean, the airline said. Seventeen children, including one infant, are among the passengers, the carrier said. Seven of the people on board are crew members.

"Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. we must stay strong," AirAsia Chief Executive Tony Fernandes said on Twitter. As word spread of the missing plane, the airline changed the colour of its logo on its social media accounts from red to gray.

Bad weather was in evidence in the region at the time, CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam said. "We still had lines of very heavy thunderstorms" when the plane was flying, Van Dam said. "But keep in mind, turbulence doesn't necessarily bring down airplanes."