Both and Singaporean Indonesian authorities have launched search and rescue operations for the Indonesia AirAsia aircraft which lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control on Sunday morning, according to a recent press release from Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) .

Accordingly, Indonesian authorities from the Pangkal Pinang Search and Rescue office have activated search and rescue operations.

Meanwhile, the Singapore Rescue Coordination Center (RCC), managed by the CAAS and supported by various agencies, has also been activated and has offered help to the Indonesian authorities.

Singaporean RCC, supported by Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), said two Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft are already on stand-by for this purpose. The C-130, a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft, is designed and built as a troop, medical evacuation, cargo transport, and search and rescue operations aircraft.

The CAAS and Changi Airport Group (CAG) Crisis Management Centers have already been activated.

The QZ8501 aircraft, which was reported to have lost contact with the Indonesian air traffic control unit at 7:24 am, is scheduled to arrive at Singapore at 8:30 am local time from Surabaya.

Singapore air traffic control was informed of this loss of contact about 30 minutes later by Jakarta air traffic control.

The aircraft was in the Indonesian Flight Information Region (FIR) when contact was lost, more than 200 nautical miles southeast of the Singapore-Jakarta FIR boundary, according to the press release.