Australian aircraft joins search for missing QZ8501

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop phoned her Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi shortly after the plane's disappearance was made public.

On Monday morning, a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) AP-3C Orion aircraft took off from Darwin to assist with the Indonesian-led search.

"Our focus at this point must be on finding the plane...at this stage we are just hoping and praying that some passengers and crew can be rescued," Bishop told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) television.

"The search and rescue operation has been under way for some time, it was stopped overnight because of weather so obviously the weather in the region is having an impact.

"It's coming up 24 hours since the plane lost contact with air traffic control in Jakarta. So whilst we hope for the best as time goes on I'm afraid our fears may be confirmed."

Australian defence force chief air chief marshal Mark Binskin said the aircraft involved in the search specialised in search and rescue.

"The RAAF AP-3C Orion aircraft has a well-proven capability in search and rescue and carries maritime search radar coupled with infrared and electro-optical sensors to support the visual observation capabilities provided by its highly trained crew members," Binskin said.