AirAsia Flight 8501 Safety Mirrors MH170 Flying Over Ukraine War Zone, 'No Permit To Fly Surabaya-Singapore Route'

One of the major loopholes found in the AirAsia flight 8501 in the aftermath of the crash and investigation was that the QZ 8501 was not "authorized" to fly the Surabaya-Singapore flight path on Sundays. This comes as a major oversight in scheduling the route only on weekdays.

Reports indicate a parallel between the shot down Malaysian Airlines MH170 and the AirAsia 8501. The MH170 was flying over Ukraine's war zone. 

"While travelers may be surprised that a commercial airline was flying over Eastern Ukraine at a time of a military conflict, commercial airlines often fly over hostile territory-unbeknown to those onboard. In fact, experts say no-fly zones for commercial aircraft can change daily or even hourly," MarketWatch reported.

The AirAsia tragedy brought to light Indonesia's struggle to maintain international safety standards. When the AirAsia 8501 disappeared from radar 43 minutes into its flight to Singapore, reports cited an alarming similarity to the first Malaysia based plane that disappeared from radar and presumably turned back and landed in the Indian Ocean. 

One major breach in safety was that the AirAsia 8501 was flying without a permit to use the route it was on. The flight route was allocated to AirAsia only on weekdays, said authorities. CEO Tony Fernandez contested, however, that AirAsia had been flying on the same path all along.

Another disturbing signal about the easily avoidable AirAsia tragedy was its request to fly 38,000 feet to climb over turbulent and icy weather conditions. The administrative personnel for AirAsia say that a meteorological report was mandatory; the pilots on AirAsia 8501 missed the report on the day of its ill fated crash.

Reports have raised similar questions about MH170, a Malaysian Airline flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. When the U.S. and UK had obtained intelligence reports the Ukraine crisis had escalated to the use of ground to air missiles, why did the MH370 fly over a declared war?

A ceasefire is ongoing now between Russian-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces. There are still thousands of commercial planes going over that war-zone, according to reports.