What has happened to the Air Asia plane?

This refers to the report, “AirAsia plane goes missing” (Dec. 29). This is the third Malaysia-linked plane incident, the first one being the Malaysia Airlines MH 370 (disappeared on March 8, 2014, over Indian Ocean en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing; search still continuing). MH 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, by hostile elements. Now AirAsia Flight QZ8501, with 162 on board, en route to Singapore. It raises the issue of whether the training of pilots is good enough to give them the ability to fly in turbulent weather. Turbulent weather is normal over the Indonesian airspace, as it falls under inter-tropical convergence zone. Another important issue is passengers' right to know the age of an aircraft, number of flight hours, etc., before they fly on an aircraft. This unfortunate incident also raises the question: is air travel safe? Flying is supposed to be the safest mode of travel. One hopes that the missing plane will be found soon, and also the causes behind this incident.  
Deendayal M. Lulla
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