emergency problem developing. there was also no known communication before it went off radar. not necessarily a radio malfunction. we re trained very, very early on to i have a great and navigate and communicate being the last thing. because communicating in this particular circumstance if indeed a contributing factor was the weather, the less people would be able to help you was air traffic control. the captain is a former military pilot said to have flown f-16 fighter jets before joining commercial aviation. he is also a husband though his wife so far has declined to make any public statements. the first officer on the may not is from france. according to the french foreign ministry which notified his family about the missing plane. he had logged 2300 hours flying with airasia. joe johns in washington. we re getting more details about early reports of smoke spotted on an island within the search area for airasia flight 8501. media outlets reporting that it
for example, whether the pilot may have tried to disregard the controller s guidance. what disturbs me is did he begin a climb without a clearance from air traffic control, that might be indicative of an emergency problem developing. reporter: there was also no known communication before it went on off radar. not necessarily a radio malfunction. we re trained early on to aviate, navigate and communicate being the last thing. communicating in this circumstance if indeed the contributing factor was the weather, the last people that would be able to help you is air traffic control. reporter: the first officer is from france, according to the french foreign ministry which notified his family about the missing plane. he had 2300 hours flying with airasia. joe johns, cnn, washington. right now in indonesia,
perform the miracle on the hudson. reporter: what we don t know is what happened in the cockpit before the plane went off radar. it could include bad weather in the area and the request to move to a different altitude. what the captain may have done with that information is still an open question. for example, whether the pilot may have tried to disregard the controller s guidance. what disturbs me is did he begin a climb without a clearance from air traffic control, that might be indicative of an emergency problem developing. reporter: there was also no known communication before it went off radar, not necessarily a radio malfunction. we re trained very very early on to af great, navigate and communicate being the last thing, because communicating in this particular circumstance if indeed a contributing factor was the weather, the last people that would be able to help you is air traffic control. reporter: the first officer
the clues include the presence of bad weather in the area and the request to increase altitude which was denied because of additional air traffic close by. what the traffic may have done with that information is an open question. for example, whether the pilot may have disregarded the controller s guidance. what disturbs me is did he begin a climb without clearance. that might be indicative of an emergency problem developing. reporter: there was also no known communication before it went off radar. not necessarily a radio malfunction. we re trained very early on to aviate navigate and communicate being the last thing. communicating in this situation the last people that would be able to help you is air traffic control. reporter: the first officer on the plane is from france