An Airbus Group NV A320-200 carrying 162 passengers and crew on flight QZ8501 from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore lost contact with air traffic controllers early Sunday morning. The plane was operated by Indonesia AirAsia, an affiliate of AirAsia, one of Asia’s first low-cost carriers.

In the plane’s last contact with Indonesian air traffic controllers the pilot said that he was deviating from the flight plan and taking the plane to a higher altitude to dodge poor weather.

The A320 was delivered to Indonesia AirAsia in October 2008 and and logged around 23,000 flying hours in 13,600 flights. The plane was equipped with CFM 56-5B engines manufactured by CFM International, a 50/50 joint venture between General Electric Co. (NYSE: GM) and France’s Snecma.

Indonesian officials have said that the plane is believed to have gone down near the coast. The government deployed a number of ships, planes, and helicopters to conduct a search, and there is at least one report that some debris has been found.

The disappearance of flight QZ8501 is an eerie reminder of the disappearance in March of this year of a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER with 239 passengers and crew on board. No trace of that aircraft has been located to date.

Searchers for flight QZ8501 will put priority on finding the flight data and voice recorders which could provide substantial evidence of what happened and perhaps even why it happened. If pieces of the plane and its passengers can be found it may be possible for forensic experts to determine if the plane broke up in flight and how and when the passengers died.

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