AirAsia Flight 8501 vanished Sunday en route from Indonesia to Singapore, after requesting a change in its flight path due to poor weather. Weather is a key suspect in Flight 8501's disappearance, considering the many thunderstorms that were in the vicinity when the Airbus A320 jet went missing
Here's what we know so far:
Weather — from fog to thunderstorms — is a contributing factor in the majority of aviation accidents, including the disappearance of an Air France Airbus A330 off the coast of Brazil in 2009.
A large area of disturbed weather, including areas of intense thunderstorms with cloud tops that reached or exceeded the AirAsia flight's cruising altitude, were likely in the vicinity of the plane when it disappeared. Unusually heavy rainfall has caused widespread flooding in parts of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia in the past week.
The flight's pilot requested a turn to avoid bad weather ahead of the plane, which is a standard procedure for when flights encounter poor weather and turbulence. Read more...
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