Britain confirms one of its nationals on missing AirAsia jet

LONDON: A British national was on board the AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that went missing in bad weather Sunday en route from Indonesia to Singapore, the Foreign Office confirmed.

"We are aware of an incident regarding Air Asia flight QZ 8501," said a statement from the ministry.

"We have been informed by the local authorities that one British national was on board. Their next of kin has been informed, and we stand ready to provide consular assistance."

AirAsia had initially said the people on board included one Singaporean, one Malaysian, one French, three South Koreans and 156 Indonesians, but later corrected the nationalities of those on board.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the Airbus A320-200 around an hour after it left Juanda international airport at Surabaya in east Java, at 5:20am (6.20am Singapore time).

Shortly before disappearing, the plane asked permission from Jakarta air traffic control to deviate from its flight plan and climb above bad weather in an area noted for severe thunderstorms.