Why We Hate to Fly

An AirAsia plane en route from Indonesia to Singapore with 162 people on board has lost contact with air traffic control.

Flight QZ8501 went missing at 07:24 (23:24 GMT), tweeted the Malaysia-based airline.

Indonesian military planes are searching an area of the Java Sea after the flight disappeared about two hours into a three-hour flight.

The pilot had called for a 'deviation' from the flight path due to bad weather.

The Foreign Office has confirmed that a British national was on board and said the next of kin has been informed.

AirAsia said there were 155 passengers on board, with 138 adults, 16 children and 1 infant. Also on board were 2 pilots and 5 cabin crew.

Most passengers were from Indonesia but there were also passengers from South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and France on board.

A statement said: "AirAsia Indonesia regrets to confirm that flight QZ8501 from Surabaya to Singapore has lost contact with air traffic control at 07:24hrs this morning.