Malaysia's Air Asia plane goes missing with 162 on board

The Malaysian Air Asia said Sunday it had lost contact with one of its airplanes heading from Indonesia to Singapore on Sunday, with 162 people on board.
Search operations for the missing Airbus 320-200 are in progress, said the company in a statement, adding that contact was lost after 42 minutes of the plane's departure from Surabaya Airport in Indonesia.
According to the Indonesian TV, the airplane carries passengers of different nationalities including Indonesians, British, Koreans and Singaporeans.
Moreover, the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation said that the Indonesian-owned aircraft was flying at 32,000 feet, but requested to go up to 38,000 feet to avoid the clouds.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najim said his country is ready to help Indonesia search for the missing plane.
Air Asia is a Malaysian low-cost airline headquartered near Kuala Lumpur, offering flights to 100 destinations in 22 countries.