Indonesia search and rescue officials fear Missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 to be 'at bottom of sea'

Belitung, Dec 29 (ANI): Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) on Monday continued to look for a missing AirAsia plane carrying 162 passengers that went missing the previous day. An official said that the plane could be at the bottom of the sea after it was presumed to have crashed off the Indonesian coast, as countries around Asia sent ships and planes to help in the search effort. BASARNAS deployed seven rescue boats and three helicopters in the Karimata Strait and west of Belitung Island to support the search mission for the missing flight QZ 8501, but high waves and winds hampered the operation. The Indonesia AirAsia plane, an Airbus A320-200, disappeared after its pilot failed to get permission to fly higher to avoid bad weather during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore on Sunday.