Air Asia QZ8501: Tony Fernandes says this is his 'worst' nightmare, cause of flight disappearance still unclear

This article is more than 12 months old

Dec 28, 2014 10:44 pm

In a press conference in Surabaya this evening (Dec 28) about missing flight QZ8501, AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes told media this is the first time his company has faced such an incident.

"We do not know what went wrong with the flight," he said, according to Detik.com. "This is the first time AirAsia has experienced such an incident."

Fernandes, sitting next to Indonesia AirAsia CEO Sunu Widyatmoko, was speaking at the crisis center set up at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, where the missing flight took off at 5.36am in the morning. It was en route to Singapore, and was due to arrive at 8.30am.

Earlier in the day, Fernandes had tweeted that he was flying to Surabaya, where most of the flight's 155 passengers are from.

"Right now, we are focused on search operations. Countries in the region and the search teams are working hard to find the plane," he added.

He had earlier tweeted that the incident is his "worse nightmare" (sic).

4-year-old girl scalded by boiling hot tea on flight, mum warns about poor tray design

Singapore

Girl, 4, scalded by boiling hot tea on flight

May 11, 2022

I am touched by the massive show of support especially from my fellow airlines. This is my worse nightmare. But there is no stopping.

— Tony Fernandes (@tonyfernandes) December 28, 2014