11:25 pm

A US NTSB spokesman said the agency is monitoring the search for the missing AirAsia plane and stands “ready to assist the Indonesians if needed”.

11:18 pm

Alexandra Topping has a roundup on reaction from families in Singapore and Indonesia.- the guardian

10:50 pm

AirAsia is a Malaysia-based airline that is popular in the region as a budget carrier. It has about 100 destinations, with affiliate companies in several Asian countries.

The missing plane is operated by AirAsia's Indonesian affiliate, in which the Malaysian company holds a 48.9% stake, according to its website.

AirAsia has a "very good" reputation for safety, CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest said.

Flight 8501's captain has a total of 6,100 flying hours, and the first officer a total of 2,275 flying hours, the airline said. The plane's last scheduled maintenance was on November 16, it said.

10:40 pm

Flight 8501 "was requesting deviation due to en route weather before communication with the aircraft was lost," the airline said.

The flight's captain asked permission to climb to a higher altitude, Murdjatmojo said, according to the national news agency.

According to flight tracking websites, almost the entire flight path of the plane was over the sea.

Bad weather gripped the region at the time, CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam said.

"We still had lines of very heavy thunderstorms" when the plane was flying, Van Dam said. "But keep in mind, turbulence doesn't necessarily bring down airplanes."

CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo said that if there was an onboard emergency, the pilots should have issued a mayday call or a pan-pan call.

9:25 pm

The Singaporean onboard missing flight AirAsia QZ8501 is a two-year-old girl who was travelling with her father, a British national. - The Straits Times

9:00 pm

Another AirAsia flight en route to Pulau Langkawi had to make a "U-turn" after taking off due to some "technical issue" on Sunday, according to Malaysia-based The Star.

Flight AK6242, with more than 150 passengers on board, departed at 4:30 pm from the Penang International Airport.

Sources said the flight eventually took off at 6:15 pm and reached its destination at 6:47 pm.

8:40 pm

While the air search has been suspended for the night, some boats are still looking for any sign of the plane, AP reported.

8:29 pm

The Jakarta Post reports that the Indonesian vice president, Jusuf Kalla, is leading the search for the missing AirAsia flight. Kalla said the search is called off until Monday.

8:04 pm

"Given that the aircraft has been missing for so many hours, it is likely that the aircraft was not equipped with a continuous location reporting system," John Goglia wrote on Forbes.com.

7:43 pm

Indonesia has halted search for the day for missing AirAsia plane, says AFP.

Hadi Mustofa, Indonesian Transport Ministry official, tells AFP: "We ended at 1730 (1030 GMT) because it was getting dark. The weather was also not too good as it was getting really cloudy."

"Tomorrow we will begin at 7 am, or even earlier than that if the weather is good," he added.

7:37 pm

AirAsia issued a correction on its Facebook page about the nationalities of passengers and crew on board.

7:28 pm

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has offered a P3 Orion aircraft to help search, according to Australia-based ABC.

6:55 pm

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai dismissed reports that the wreckage of a missing AirAsia plane with 162 people aboard had been found, saying no information had been received about the whereabouts of the aircraft so far. - Xinhua

6:40 pm

Airbus has issued a statement with details of of the A320-200 that has disappeared. - the guardian