A year of plane tragedies: MH370, MH17 and now QZ8501 – all affecting Asia

THE missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 that disappeared today is the third plane tragedy this year alone to affect Asia.

AirAsia flight QZ8501 is the third air disaster to affect Asia this yearGETTY

AirAsia flight QZ8501 is the third air disaster to affect Asia this year after MH17 and MH370

BREAKING- AirAsia flight QZ8501 with 162 people from Indonesia to Singapore MISSING

The Airbus A320-200, which had some 162 people onboard, lost contact with air traffic control while en-route to Singapore from Indonesia.

A search and rescue operation is underway to find the jet and it comes in the wake of two disasters which affected Malaysia Airlines this year.

On March 8 flight MH370, which had 239 people onboard, went missing en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.

After more than a fortnight of searches to no avail the Malaysia government said they believed all onboard the passenger jet had died.

The search area was narrowed down to a vast section of the Indian Ocean which teams scoured for months on end.

Despite an initial multi-national operation not a single trace of debris has been found.

After a four-month hiatus the hunt to find the Boeing 777 resumed in October with teams armed with equipment to scour the sea floor.

Investigators believe the aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed somewhere in a 23,000 square mile region.

Their findings are based on analysis of transmissions between the plane and a satellite.

AirAsia flight QZ8501 went missing with 162 people onboardEPA

AirAsia flight QZ8501 went missing with 162 people onboard

AirAsia flight QZ8501 is the third plane disaster to hit Asia after the Malaysia Airlines MH370 and MH17 tragedies

Conspiracy theories have circulated claiming that terrorists took control of the jet or the pilot of the plane crashed it as he committed suicide.

However, aviation experts have said those allegations are unfounded and until the plane's black box is found what happened to MH370 will remain unclear.

Months later Malaysia Airlines were at the centre of a second air tragedy when flight MH17 was shot down near the Ukraine-Russia border.

All 298 passengers and crew members onboard the Boeing 777, the same jet at the centre of the MH370 disaster, were killed.

The plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was downed on July 17.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing in MarchEPA

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing in March and no trace of it has been found

Dutch air investigators said it was likely struck by multiple "high-energy objects" that some aviation experts say is consistent with a missile strike.

The tragedy happened in the aftermath of the Ukraine-Russia crisis which came after Crimea was annexed by Vladimir Putin's forces.

Moscow claimed MH17 was shot down by a Ukrainian military jet while Kiev blamed Russian separatists in the region.

The wreckage of the passenger plane was transported in pieces to Holland earlier this month by trucks and will be reassembled in a hangar.

However, the Dutch Safety Board said it will take months for MH17 to be reassembled and a report on the crash won't be published till the middle of 2015.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down in JulyAP

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down in July near the Ukraine-Russian border

The AirAsia flight QZ8501 disappeared on Sunday during a journey from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.

Indonesian officials say the crew requested to deviate from the usual route to avoid bad weather shortly before contact was lost.

A search and rescue operation is underway to find the plane after it lost contact at 7.24am local time (23:24 GMT).

A statement from AirAsia said there were 155 passengers on board, with 138 adults, 16 children and one infant.

Also on board were two pilots and five cabin crew.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has confirmed that a British national was onboard and next of kin had been informed.

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