AirAsia QZ8501: Nations Offers Help In Search For Missing Plane; Tony Fernandes Leaves For Surabaya

Update as of 5:52 a.m. EST: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott spoke to Indonesia's President Joko Widodo and offered to assist Indonesia in looking for Flight QZ8501, according to the Australian leader's Twitter feed. Australia is currently also assisting Malaysia in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared on March 8.

Update as of 3:43 a.m. EST: Indonesia has accepted Singapore's offer to assist in the search-and-rescue operations for AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ8501, according to reports. India too has offered to help in looking for the missing plane, BBC reported, citing local media.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has offered help to Indonesian authorities in helping locate AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ8501, which went missing early Sunday morning a little under two hours after taking off from Juanda International Airport in Surabaya to Singapore. There were 162 people on board the Airbus A320-200.

According to CAAS, the plane was in the "Indonesian Flight Information Region (FIR)" when contact was lost, more than 200 nautical miles (230 miles) southeast of the Singapore-Jakarta FIR boundary. The Singapore Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC), which is managed by CAAS and the country's air force and navy are ready to offer help to Indonesian authorities, CAAS said in a statement.

"Two C130s are already on stand-by for this purpose. We remain ready to provide any assistance to support the search and rescue effort," according to the statement. "The CAAS and Changi Airport Group (CAG) Crisis Management Centres have already been activated. We are working with the airline’s crisis management team."

According to reports, the plane did not send out any distress signal before losing radio contact, AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes announced on Twitter that he was on his way to Surabaya.