AirAsia tragedy capped a deadly year for civil aviation

Image: Darren Whiteside / Reuters

Members of the Indonesian search and rescue crew receive the body of a passenger from the AirAsia flight that crashed into the Java Sea while travelling from Surabaya to Singapore. Ships and planes were scouring the sea for flight QZ8501 since December 28, when the Airbus 320 jet went off the radar with 162 people, about 40 minutes into its flight. At the time of going to press, bodies were still being recovered. And while the reason for the incident was still unclear, what is unequivocal is that this tragic event capped one of the deadliest years for civil aviation in a long time.