Pesawat QZ8501 didakwa mungkin dipanah petir dengan pendaratan atas air yang gagal menyelamatkan

Pakar penerbangan mendakwa bahawa pesawat QZ8501 telah dipanah petir. Turut dipertunjukkan ialah kejadian petir pada saat pesawat tersebut melintasi cuaca buruk di perairan Selat Karimata.

Mereka juga membuat andaian bahawa peluang untuk melihat penumpang terselamat andai berlaku pendaratan atas air adalah tidak memihak kepada para pengharap.

Jika pendaratan tersebut telah berlaku sekalipun, mereka amat yakin bahawa ia gagal menyelamatkan nyawa penumpang dan krew.

Aviation expert: Prognosis for missing passengers is 'not good'

Storm: Lightning is shown in the plane's flight path

An aviation expert has suggested that the prognosis for those onboard missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 is 'not good.'

David Learmount, operations and safety editor of Flight Global, said pilots routinely request diversions when faced with storms.

He said: "Storms can be very, very powerful indeed and rip a medium-sized aeroplane completely apart, that's why a pilot will routinely ask to divert around them.

“The plane could not still be airborne - it was a short-haul flight, there would be no fuel for staying in the air for quite as long as this."

He suggested it was unlikely those on board would have survived a sea landing, the Telegraph reports.

"I think the prognosis is not good," he said.