At 5.35 a.m. local time on Sunday, December 28, Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ 8501 left Surabaya, East Java en route to Singapore.
At 6.12 a.m. the pilot contacted air traffic control (ATC) asking for permit to increase altitude from 32,000 feet to 38,000 feet due to weather problems.
At 6.17 a.m. local time, the aircraft lost contact with ground control and then disappeared from radar. By 6.18 a.m, radar only detected flight plan of the Airbus A320-200 and 162 people aboard.
Djoko Murdjatmojo, acting director general of air transportation at ministry of transportation, said the aircraft was loaded with fuel for 4.5 hours of flight.
At 07.08, the aircraft was declared INCERFA (uncertainty phase).
At 07.28, the aircraft was declared ALERFA (alert phase)
At 07.55, the aircraft was declared DISTRESFA (distress phase)