AirAsia plane missing

ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION

An AirAsia flight carrying at least 155 people from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore lost contact with air traffic control on Sunday, officials in the region and the budget carrier said.

Flight QZ 8501, an Airbus 320-200, lost contact with the Jakarta air traffic control tower at 6:17 a.m. (2317 GMT), Indonesian Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa told media.

It had at least 155 passengers and crew on board, another Indonesian Transport official said.

Kuala Lumpur-based AirAsia confirmed its flight had lost contact with air traffic control and said a search-and-rescue operation had been launched.

Mustofa said the plane had asked for an unusual route before it lost contact.

The aircraft was between the Indonesian port of Tanjung Pandan and the town of Pontianak, in West Kalimantan on Borneo island, when it went missing, Indonesian transport officials said.

Indonesian media said 149 Indonesians,