Is underway. We begin with breaking news, search and rescue operation has been launched in the sea of dmiecialindonesia after an airasia plane lost contact with control. Carrying up 162 passengers and crew from surabaya. Scott heidler what more can you tell us from bangkok . 8510, about 35 minutes into its flight when it dropped off radar. They are engaged in a search and rescue mission thats been going on now for several hours. The plane dropped off radar over 6 hours ago now. They are in the east java sea. Airbus 320 series. Now this aircraft can be outfitted for low craft airlines to seat up to 180 people but we know it is less than that on board. Most of these people on board are indonesians someone from france this from airasia itself. Singapore where this aircraft was bound military air force and aircraft are also going to be involved in this search and rescue. Whats most likely where it dropped off radar we are hearing that the aircraft just before it dropped off radar requested a deviation in their route. That means they wanted to take a turn. Sounds like it was because of bad weather in the area. It needs to be made known that at this altitude, this is kind of a cruising altitude. Most of the time in weather systems you would kind of be above it. But they asked for deviation could be because of turbulence in front of them if you will in the nocialt northinthe northerly route. At cruising altitude, that is a safer part of the flight. The most dangerous parts of a flight is the takeoff and landing. Thats when there are most maneuvers that need to be done, most situations when things can be done. Its curious that this happened at altitude. But Civil Aviation said this aircraft did ask for a deviation in their route before it dropped off radar elizabeth. Most passengers were dmeern. Indonesiaindonesian. Literal airport Information Available to them at this time, scott. Yes, very little information. Again this is something that unfortunately this past year 2014 we have seen two other major air disasters one mh370 still missing and then the shooting down of mh 17, over ukraine. Im not happening right now with what happened to those incidents earlier in the year but what we have seen through them those incidents is that information needs to be handled very carefully because in these early, early stages it is very speculative. So much information that needs to be gathered before there can be a definitive determination of what happened to this aircraft. At least we dont know theres been any physical evidence, any sighting of what could be debris down on the sea or possibly an Emergency Landing or anything like that. Thats still left to be determined. Thats why theyre guarded with information because it can lead to false hope, it can lead to conjecture. Thats why the airline and the Civil Aviation seems guarded with their information. Thats why were seeing few details coming out. Obviously that is tremendously frustrating for loved ones and crew on board this aircraft. Scott heidler is joining us from bangkok. Airasia last provided more information on nationalities. There were 157 indonesians three south koreans. One person was from malaysia and one person was listed as singaporean. So we have had an indonesian official say the plane was carrying about four hours of fuel. We know its been missing for more than six and a half hours now. What does that mean, does that mean that the plane has gone down . Look, more than likely that is the situation. Is with a relatively short flight of two and a half hours four hours endurance is probably the likely amount of fuel it had on board. I guess from a positive point of view and its still very early stages of the investigation so its probably best not to speculate but one i guess encouraging aspect was that it was Daylight Hours and if there was a controlled ditching at the sea because we know that it was over the south java sea at the time that the communications were lost, that at least it was during Daylight Hours. So if there was ocontrolled ditching then that is a lot more positive, if it were during Daylight Hours. But again it is very early in the investigation and its obviously a very grave situation at this stage. Lets talk about what we do know. How unusual is it for a plane to lose contact with air Traffic Control . We heard that the aircraft asked to change its altitude and take an unusual beings route is that unusual . Well, look, losing communications is very unusual. Aircraft thats headed with h chip communications, theyre also tracked on the primary radar and secondary radar with the transponders. The fact that they did request a deviation from route is not unusual in the tropics area where there are significant buildups and i believe the aircraft was cruising at its initial level of 32 320 a course of 32,000 feet, tend oindicate at early stages that it probably was due to weather or perhaps turbulence on route. And that they had had no communication since that last transmission is of obviously very serious concerns to all. Locating the aircraft now what kind of information, what data will they be looking at . Well, obviously the last reported transmissions, there may be more information that they provided to the air Traffic Controls, bear in mind that the aircraft had departed from the northeast of the island of java, so it was in indonesian flight information region so air Traffic Controllers were speaking. They were obviously speaking locallylocal language, so those communications were critical. If the pilot would indicate the reason or the request for a diversion of course and that could obviously give the initial indication as to what the likely cause or contributed to the missing aircraft. I know that airasia is known in the Asia Pacific Region where you are it has had a good record so far. What can you tell us about this company . Jaishz has beenairasia has been one of the recent Success Stories i travel on airasia quite frequently within the Southeast Asian region. They are known for having a good Safety Record, obviously something coming as close intervals to mh370 and mh 17 gives us concern. The fact that malaysian carriers are suffering at this time seems to be a systemic issue but its coincidence that it has happened to three carriers in a relatively short period of time. I travel on airasia its got a good Safety Record to date and this is obviously something quite out of the box. You mentioned the other incidents earlier this year. Has there ever been such a bad year for the Aviation Industry a plane that went missing in march, another passenger plane shot down over a war zone in july, now we have another missing plane . Look, i think weve got to consider this in perspective. The fact that transport by air is still the safest means of Mass Transportation 2013 i think according to International Statistics was the safest year on record. The fact i think its more the nature of the events with the mh370 becoming lost, that is unprecedented in modern era with modern communication mh 17 again was unprecedented with it being shot down with ground to air missiles. I think it is more the nature of these events, the fact that they were both with Malaysian Airlines and a third one with the southeastern asia aircraft. More a magnitude of loss of lives. Aviation is still a very safe form of transport. I think its more the nature of these events in these three instances. Joining us from sydney there thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Well stay tuned al jazeera for latest on the story. You can also head over to our website, al jazeera. Com. In other news the nato combat mission in afghanistan is coming to an end this month after 13 years of operation in the country. This year has been the deadliest in the war, more than 4,000 Afghan Soldiers and police have been killed. Jennifer glasse reports. Reporter helmond is the zedliest province. Fighting is raging around him home in sangin in the north. He says thousands have fled. We lost the first harvest and now the second. Farmers have lost their cattle, people have lost their homes. People have been targeted by road side bombs and they face many threats by this insecurity. His wife was kept from getting to a doctor, she died of her illness. The lucky ones end up here, an emergency hospital. Only one name, he has lost a leg, and doctors are fighting to save the other one. In the operating room next door the painstaking search for evaporate knell in this gunshot wound. Samiola is a policeman from sangin. He has been fighting for four years, and he says the fighting has never been this bad. Sangin is with taliban. The government only controls the roads, none of the villages. Jamadar is a member of the intelligence force he, from jamadar, another area of heavy fighting. As long we are alive well fight for our country. Reporter proof that the fight is hard, the Record Number of wounded here and the wards are still full even though the fighting usually slows at this time of year. There have been so many casualties this year the hospital has had to turn the pharmacy the mosque and the childrens play room into patient wards and when its really busy they use these outdoor tents for triage. A rare attack in lashgrega lasted hours. Those from the villages and the country side, say civilians are caught in the middle, between Taliban Forces and civilian soldiers who dont care who they hit. Jennifer glasse, al jazeera. Talking to the opposition to try to end the nearly four year long civil war. A response to russias request for dialogue. The Syrian Government says its open to preliminary consultations in moscow. Russias Foreign Ministry announced it hopes to hold talks in late january but its still unclear who will be taking part. The head of the Syrian NationalCoalition Said that without some type of blueprint it is nothing to bring opposition groups to the table so far. What russia is calling for is a meeting and dialogue in moscow without any specific suggestions and this is the issue we have with this invitation. While the Syrian Government has considered new talks air strikes have killed more than 50 people over the past three days. That includes seven children. Syrian jets are targeting areas controlled by Islamic State of iraq and the levant in the city of albab and the nearby city of kabasan. Are air assault killed at least five people near the town of duma. Southern province have been hit. Five people were hit when bombs hit a town near ibita. Still to come on the program more on our top story well have the latest on that airasia plane that lost contact from a flight from indonesia to singapore. Im joie chen im the host of america tonight, were revolutionary because were going back to doing best of storytelling. We have an ouportunity to really reach out and really talk to voices that we havent heard before. I think Al Jazeera America is a watershed moment for american journalism you can now see the controversial movie the interview online. Sony is allowing people to rent or buy the film on a variety of good to have you with us, im elizabeth peranham in doha. Our developing story this hour. Airasia flight qz8501 is an airbus 320 with 162 people on board. This is live pictures from the airport in synch por an indonesian spokesperson said the plane was at sea. Search and rescue operationss are underway. Submitted flight plan route and was requesting deviation due to onroute weather before communication with the aircraft was lost while i. T. Was still under control of the Indonesian AirTraffic Control. The aircraft had undergone its last scheduled maintenance on the 16th of november 2014. Aviation analyst jerry surjatsin said the weather in the area was poor. From the satellite images, the weather where it disappeared is nod not clear. Its pretty bad weather but not the worst we have seen. That justifies crew of the aircraft to ask for deviations. That could explain what the officials have said in terms of they asked for an unusual route. In aviation terms it merely means they asked for a slight deviation from their normal route due to weather. The other thing we heard the aircraft asked to change its altitude. Based on that scan information at the moment we can just say that we know that the weather did affect how they decided what to do with their fight but whether that brought down the plane we dont know yet. Stay with al jazeera for developments on this story. We will bring you the latest as we get it but lets move on to some of our other top stories now. Days of heavy rain in some Asian Countries have caused widespread floods and landslides. More than a dozen people have been called in thailand and malaysia. The Thai Government has declared eight of its southern provinces disaster zones 13 declared dead and more than 8,000 displaced. Northern malaysia acknowledge three people have died and 5,000 displaced. Kadias malash is in malaysia. One of the worst affected regions in malaysia, this is a city center and as you can see behind me its completely underaward. Now from underwater. As far as the eye could see the land was completely submerged in water. All you could see was the tops of trees as well as the roof of many houses that are completely stranded now. No very few roads were visible from the air. The roads that were visible were completely cut off from either side by floodwaters. This is making it very difficult for rescue and relief operations to take place. They cannot reach the most needy locations by road. The tinder market has been engulfed in flames. In karachi. Spread to nearby homes and shops but it is unclear whether there were any injuries or death. Prorussian separatists in Eastern Ukraine have released four more prisoners nazanin mushiri reports. Welcomes home these prisoners of war exchanged with hundreds of prorussian fighters. This is a coup for Petro Poroshenko a leaders who struggles to unite his country. I tell you that as an ordinary citizen have a heart full of happiness that you will greet the new year, and i promise that you will do what weve been waiting for for so long. Were thankful again that we have you. Reporter there is relief but also sadness about those still being held. Translator it is pleasant that the president matters. We hope our friends still being kept as hostages are going to be released in the near future. A secret location in the donetsk region, some of the prisoners are injured and have to be carried to freedom. There are International Observers and ukrainian separatists. From the luhansk region, have not arrived yet but we will complete the are exchange tomorrow. Kiev says it is fighting against what it calls russias influence. Russia has always denied backing and arming the separatists. The russian president recently signed a military document, and the latest twist in this criers iscrisisblaming security concerns, leaving many passengers strand he and frustrated. Translator it is very bad and will affect many people. People should not be affected by such decisions. They should not suffer because of politics. Reporter this Prisoner Exchange a small step towards reconciliation and for the families of the released prisoners it offers some hope in this bitter and deadly conflict. Naz 9nazanin mushiri, al mushiri, al jazeera. Jane arraf has this story. One of his two sons now in the u. S. Was an iraqi chess champion. His children from a second marriage are eager to learn. Here in baghdad he has rebuilt his life. Hes tried to move forward from almost unimaginable tragedy. Ten years ago his wife, five sons a daughter and other relatives were killed. Soldiers thought they were insurgents. His youngest child was nine, the eldest 23. In between musafnan, wrote she dreamed of a more peaceful world. That day allo lost his family. Now he fears he is losing his country. Allo is from diyala province. Here in baghdad shes another of the displaced. I lost my entire house. It was two story fully furnished. I had two shops. All of the property including everything in it is gone. Some of it was burned, some of it bombed. Now its been looted. Reporter for 50 years she said she and her neighbors lived in peace. Allo says he Still Believes in iraq. He composes music incorporating traditional music from mosul to the south of the country. Here in baghdad he has built this house with his small hands. He says hes forgiven the soldiers who killed his family. For a better iraq. We have democracy and to see our people like any other nation in the world and they deserve to have this step because they already paid the heavy price. But this is the life. Reporter allo has paid the heaviest price. He says he tries to teach his children that all men are brothers and that while tragedy goes, with part of his family gone he hopes his cub will survive. Jane arraf, al jazeera baghdad. Well meet a family in the gaza strip struggling to get back on its feet after Israeli Offensive earlier this year. Stranded 15,000 motorists in the savoy region, emergency shelters have opened and france has declared a weather alert. Just a reminder you can always keep up to date, all the news. A show about innovations that can change lives. The science of fighting a humanity and we are doing it in a unique way. This is a show about science by scientists. Lets check out the team of hardcore nerds. Specialising in ecology and evolution. Rhinos have been hunted to near extinction. Its illegal a