The fate of an AirAsia Indonesia jet that disappeared Sunday over the Java Sea with 162 people aboard remained a mystery more than 15 hours after it disappeared in stormy weather, authorities said. Flight QZ8501 was bound for Singapore from Surabaya, Indonesia, when it lost contact with air traffic control at about 7:24 a.m. (6:24 p.m. ET on Saturday), the airline said in a statement. The time in Surabaya is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time; Singapore is 13 hours ahead of ET. "We don't dare to presume what has happened except that it has lost contact," said Djoko Murjatmodjo, Indonesia's acting director general of transportation. Minutes before the plane disappeared from radar, the pilot asked air traffic control for permission to avoid a cloud bank by turning left and going higher, to 34,000 feet. Flight QZ8501 gave no distress signal, he said. Read more http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/12/28/airasia-jet-missing-qz8501/20964441/
