of the world, that flight level would be cold enough that icing could be a concern. investigators will have to eventually analyze if icing conditions on the wings came into play along the flight path. as we zoom in, this is the flight and the last known location. you can see the thunderstorms right nearby. obviously weather, if it wasn t the main factor, it was certainly no help along the path of the flight. richard, back to you. mark, thank you for that update for us on the weather. here is what we know about the plane. it s an air bus 200 series a-320. delivered in 2008. this plane had 23,000 flight hours and 13,600 flights. the a-320 is a short oh medium range jet. it can carry up to 180 passengers with a range of 3700 miles. let s bring in two aviation experts to shed light on what happened with the air asia flight. former ntsb investigator and nbc
it s an airbus. airbus released a statement while confirming details of the missing flight. airbus is saying that the aircraft was delivered back in 2008. it had accumulated approximately 23,000 flight hours in some 13,600 flights. the a-320 is short to medium range narrow body jet. it can carry up to 180 passengers. it has a range of about 3,700 miles or so. this plane is a very popular plane in wide use around the world. there are 6,000 right now currently in service. joining me via skype, john cox, msnbc aviation analyst who also served for 25 years as airline captain for us airways. what the do you think is happening based on what we know? good morning, alex. i think we know so far that the pilots were dealing with
had been murdered in front of his house. sadly, the story is not an anomaly. many of these children are escaping violence and threats by gangs and they and their families are being preyed upon by smugglers. a situation of this magnitude calls on all of us to work across government to enforce the law and to care for these children in a manner that honors our values. federal law says that hhs s role is to feed, shelter, and provide medical care for unaccompanies children until we re able to place them in a safe and suitable setting with family members or a sponsor while they await immigration proceedings. as the number of children has grown, our resources have been stretched thin. and fiscal year 2011, an estimated 65,000 aaunaccompanied children came into our care. this increases to 13,600 in 2012 and almost 25,000 in 2013.
to $13,600 a year. and they re not able to write that off, use the tax credits to write off that expense. right. well, obamacare promises that everyone with pre-existing conditions, excuse me, are taken into the system, that the system insures the sick. that s new. that s why without young and healthy consumers, the system is going to collapse. it doesn t mean you re not going to pay more if you come in as a smoker and there s no provision for you to attend a wellness class and give it up or reduce your fees, that s going to be part of the system. the problem is, as i said, if they can t find a way to bring the young and healthy patients in to balance out the cost of the sick and those with pre-existing conditions, this is not a system that s going to work. and it was promised that it was going to be a system that cut costs. but we all pay more if we don t have those healthy applicants in the exchanges. jon: we are finding out that the administration has known for
signs that we re leaving not that we re winning, but that we re leaving. i also had a chance to speak with republican senator lindsey graham about this today. we would be crazy to leave afghanistan without an insurance policy for us. somewhere around 10,000 to 13,000 troops post-2014 with american combat power available would end the taliban s hopes and dreams of retaking afghanistan. reporter: so that number that you heard senator graham mention, the number of troops that would be left behind in 2014 to help out with the protection of afghanistan, that s still being debated. we heard from a top u.s. commander in the region who mentioned a number around that number, 13,600 last month. but that will all be worked out. we can certainly expect to hear from senators like senator graham and mccain as we get closer to determining those forces. athena jones, thank you so much from the white house. appreciate that.