Another Dissapearance in A Year Full Of Disappearing Aircrafts

The sad truth of the matter is, we appear to be living in a time when aircraft disappearances are becoming increasingly common. What’s worse is that these disappearances remain unsolved, worsening the anguish and grief of the relatives of those on board these aircraft.

AirAsia QZ8501 left Surabaya, Indonesia, and was due to arrive in Singapore. Somewhere along the way, all contact with the plane was lost. After requesting permission to climb to 38,000 feet to avoid dense clouds, the plane disappeared from radar screens and has yet to be seen again. The pilots, who both boasted years of experience, appear to have contended with extremely bad weather.

This AirAsia 8501 during an earlier flight.

Pictured here are the two co-pilots of the missing plane, Remi Emmanuel Plesel and Captain Iriyanto.

This is the flight path and search area for AirAsia 8501.

Here, a relative checks to see if their loved one was on the plane.

The plane had 162 people on board, and AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes says the disappearance is his “worst nightmare.” Flight AirAsia 8501 is the third Asian commercial airplane to go missing in 2014. In addition to the Malaysian MH370 flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing that disappeared in March, flight MH17 was shot down as it flew above Ukraine in July.