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Of the world, that flight level would be cold enough that icing could be a concern. investigators will have to eventually analyze if icing conditions on the wings came into play along the flight path. as we zoom in, this is the flight and the last known location. you can see the thunderstorms right nearby. obviously weather, if it wasnt the main factor, it was certainly no help along the path of the flight. richard, back to you. >> mark, thank you for that update for us on the weather. here is w...

French equivalent of the ntsb they go on to say their thoughts are with the families of those affected by flight 8501. martin? >> yeah theres no question its a popular plane, not just in asia wherever you fly, youre likely to have been on an airbus a-320. were following the breaking news this morning, airasia flight 8501 missing, losing contact while flying between indonesia and singapore. well be right back after the break.

Sunday morning, local time. the plane was flying from surabaya indonesia city there in the south. it left at 5:30 in the morning, as we were just discussing with our guest, heavy thunderstorms were in this area at the time the airplane lost contact with air traffic controllers. the pilot had just recently asked to change altitude for a die diversion in the route because of weather in the area. soon after that request was made, all contact was lost with the plane. that graphic is showing you abou...

Hearing from associated press that the search and rescue operations aerially have been suspended for now. its approaching 8:30 local time. its dark. if there is bad weather in the area they certainly dont want to add to the problems there. aerial operations are suspended at the moment. there are boats in the water being operated by the singapore navy trying to look for the area around which contact was lost. can i ask you about the a-320 in terms of how quickly and easily that plane will be able...

320-2200, it tries to save itself. she said by pairing down some of the functions on the plane. we also know this is coming from the associated press that the indonesian acting director general of transportation says there was no distress signal from the cockpit. considering the poebl pairing down of functions, would that still have been an option for this pilot? if some of the functions are shutting down, could he have still sent that may day call? >> there are several ways to issue a may day c...

Standard procedures for emergency dont seem to have been deployed. >> yeah. weve heard from airasia saying they dont have much more information to share with us. but let me ask you this. what can you tell us about this route? is it a difficult one from surabaya, indonesia to singapore? >> well, its difficult only in terms of, you know, youre flying around a number of different jurisdictions. youre flying sometimes in difficult weather over the oceans, land masses, ocean currents can send up part...

Contact with air control. we know the flight path should have been less than two hours in indonesia to singapore but we do know that it was supposed to land in singapore 8:20 a.m. thats about five hours ago now. of course as time goes on, concerns are increasing for what exactly has happened to that plane. we understand from the news agency, they believe 155 people were onboard. its not clear whether its just passengers or crew as well. so it could be as many as 162 people onboard. we have got a...

Confirmation for you. one thing that we have heard from the air line is that a crisis center has been set up. search and rescue operations are currently under way. now you heard paula say that there have been discrepancy in the numbers of people onboard. reports as many as 162 people were onboard the air bus 320. the kind of air craft were talking about is similar to what you see on your screens right now. an air bus 320. this is the kind of air craft considered to be the work horse of the skies...

Because as a pilot, the other thing that we have been talking about, if you request to go to a higher altitude, you dont know and you vhave radar, i guess, but we dont know how high that thunderstorm system goes. isnt that a little bit dangerous? >> well, it is not the best way to go around deviating around the thunderstorm, and there is a way to determine it, and a art to fine tuning the radar per se and sophisticated radar can and on the airbus 320 and sophisticated piece, and automatic system...

There are reports as many as 162 people are on board that airbus 320. we want to put up a shot on our screen so you can see the aircraft, the type of aircraft that were talking about. we have a picture of that airbus 320. thats the kind of plane were talking about. an airbus 320. indonesian tv reports that most of those on board this flight were indonesians, are indonesians i should say with three koreans, one passenger from singapore, one from the uk, and one from malaysia, all on board. now, w...