An AirAsia flight traveling from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore with 162 people on board lost contact with air traffic control early Sunday morning, the airline confirmed. Indonesia quickly launched a search to locate the missing plane, but by Sunday night, most search and rescue operations were halted for the day, the plane still unaccounted for.

Flight QZ 8501 -- an Airbus 320-200 -- lost communication with Indonesia's Surabaya Juanda International Airport at 7:24 Singapore time on Sunday morning, the airline said. The plane "was requesting deviation due to enroute weather before communication with the aircraft was lost," AirAsia said in a statement.

"The weather was not good -- it was bad -- at the estimated location the plane lost contact," Indonesian Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustafa said.

A map showing the intended flight path of the AirAsia plane. (Credit: Google)

AirAsia Indonesia CEO Sunu Widyatmoko said that the airline is "deeply shocked and saddened" by the disappearance.

“We are deeply shocked and saddened by this incident," he said in a Facebook post. "We are cooperating with the relevant authorities to the fullest extent to determine the cause of this incident. In the meantime, our main priority is keeping the families of our passengers and colleagues informed on the latest developments.”

The ministry's air transportation director Joko Muryo Atmodjo said no distress signal had been sent, adding, "Therefore we cannot assume anything yet."

Indonesia AirAsia #QZ8501 was flying at 32000 feet over Java Sea when ADS-B signal was lost pic.twitter.com/Xqy2lDkRnJ — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 28, 2014

"We are coordinating with [the] rescue team and looking for its position. We believe it is somewhere between Tanjung Pandan, a town on Belitung island, and Kalimantan," Atmodjo said .

AirAsia confirmed this plane traveling from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore lost contact with air traffic control early Sunday morning. The jet is photographed above at Singapore Changi Airport in 2010. (Credit: Bruno Geiger, Flickr)

An official from Indonesia's national search and rescue agency points to the position where AirAsia flight QZ8501 went missing. (Credit: Getty) The plane took off at 5:20 a.m. local time in Surabaya and was scheduled to land at 8:30 a.m. in Singapore, according to AFP

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, one woman present at a crisis center at the Changi Airport had seven family members on the flight, including her mother and brother.

Relatives of the passengers of AirAsia flight QZ8501 comfort each other at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014. (Credit: AP

Malaysia, Singapore and Australia offered to assist the search for the plane. AirAsia said it was "cooperating fully" with the efforts, and set up a call center for relatives of those aboard the plane.

AirAsia has established an Emergency Call Centre that is available for family or friends of those who may have been on board the aircraft. The number is: +622129850801.

A relative of AirAsia flight QZ8501 passengers weeps as she waits for the latest news on the missing jetliner at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia on December 28, 2014. (Credit: AP

The U.S. also offered support for the search. Spokespersons for the National Transportation Safety Board and the State Department said that the agencies are monitoring the situation and "ready to assist" the rescue team if needed.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore released a statement early Sunday saying "a waiting area, and all necessary facilities and support have been set up for relatives and friends of the affected passengers" at Changi Airport. By Sunday evening, dozens of those connected to the passengers had registered at the waiting area. Tony Fernandes, the CEO of AirAsia, announced he would go to Surabaya where most of the passengers were from. "This is my worst nightmare," he wrote on Twitter.

Family members of passengers of missing Malaysian air carrier AirAsia flight QZ8501 gather at Juanda international airport in Surabaya in East Java on December 28, 2014. (Credit: AP)

The A320 is Airbus’s best-selling jet family, with more than 6,000 planes in operation. In a statement, Airbus said that the plane that went missing came off the production line in 2008, and had conducted approximately 13,600 flights, for a total of about 23,000 flight hours. Airbus announced it would provide its full assistance to the investigation, and said the "thoughts of the Airbus management and staff are with all those affected by Flight QZ 8501."

As news of the missing flight unfolded, AirAsia changed the color of the logos on their social media channels from red to grey. AirAsia, which is headquartered in Malaysia, is one of the fastest growing low-cost carriers in Asia. It has never lost a plane before, according to the Associated Press.

The plane that lost contact with air traffic control is an Airbus A320-200, photographed above at Singapore Changi Airport in 2011. (Credit: Aero Icarus, Flickr

The disappearance of the AirAsia flight is the third air incident of 2014 that involves Malaysia, the Associated Press notes. Malaysia's national carrier, Malaysia Airlines, suffered two disasters in 2014. In March, the airline lost contact with flight MH370 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew aboard. It remains missing. In July, flight MH17 was downed over eastern Ukraine, killing 298 people. Following the news of Flight 8501's disappearance, Malaysia Airlines offered its support on Twitter.

#staystrong@AirAsia - Our thoughts and prayers are with all family and friends of those on board QZ8501. — Malaysia Airlines (@MAS) December 28, 2014

According to a White House pool report, U.S. President Barack Obama was briefed on the missing flight, and "White House officials will continue to monitor the situation." Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wrote on Twitter that he was "saddened" to hear about the missing plane. "My thoughts are with the passengers and their families," he said. Malaysia's Prime Minister Mohammad Najib Razak said his country "stands ready to help."

"Our hearts and hopes are with the passengers and families of AirAsia QZ8501," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry tweeted.

Very sad to hear that AirAsia Indonesia QZ8501 is missing. My thoughts are with the families. Malaysia stands ready to help. — Mohd Najib Tun Razak (@NajibRazak) December 28, 2014