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Rescue workers have recovered dozens of bodies from an AirAsia passenger jet that went missing over the Java Sea with 162 people on board. This is what we know so far about the plane’s fate.

Where was it going?

AirAsia Flight 8501 left Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, Indonesia, at 5:35 a.m. local time on Sunday, en route to Singapore, AirAsia said in a statement.

One of the plane's pilots asked permission to increase altitude from 32,000 feet to 38,000 feet to avoid bad weather. Air-traffic control officials say the request was denied due to heavy air traffic. Air-traffic control contacted the plane again at 6:17 to grant interim permission to go higher, but got no reply. No distress call was received.

Flight path is approximate. Sources: AirAsia, Flightradar24, WSJ.

What kind of plane is it?

Enny Nuraheni/Reuters)

Flight 8501 is a twin-engined Airbus A320-200, like the one shown above in a 2013 file picture. AirAsia says the plane last underwent maintenance on Nov. 16.

Who was on board?

A relative shows a picture of passengers who were travelling on Flight 8501 at the airport in Surabaya. (Juni Kriswanto/AFP/Getty Images)

AirAsia says the plane had an Indonesian captain, a French co-pilot, five cabin crew and 155 passengers, including 16 children and one infant. The nationalities of all on board were as follows:

Indonesian: 155

South Korean: 3

Singaporean: 1

Malaysian: 1

British: 1

French: 1

Who was flying it?

The captain, Iryanto (who uses only one name), is a former Indonesian air force pilot. AirAsia says he has more than 20,000 flying hours.

His co-pilot was identified as Rémi Emmanuel Plesel, a relatively inexperienced French national who gained his pilot’s licence at age 42. He has 2,275 hours experience flying on Airbus A320s.

Paul Koring: Flight 8501's last manoeuvre points to risks of losing control in a storm

Malaysia's history of disaster

If the deaths of Flight 8501’s passengers are confirmed, Malaysia-based AirAsia and the nation’s only other airline, Malaysia Airlines, will have suffered the three the deadliest aviation disasters of 2014.

MH370: A Malayasia Airlines Boeing 777, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board. The plane's wreckage has not been found.

MH17: Another Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing all 298 people on board.

Read more about the Malaysia Airlines tragedies

With reports from Paul Koring, Associated Press and Reuters