Was the pilot of missing AirAsia plane flying too SLOW? Experts say jet carrying 162 people may have 'stalled' during storm..

As the huge search for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 resumed today, experts said the aircraft was likely to have been flying at least 100mph too slow to avoid a catastrophic storm front. Geoffrey Thomas, aviation expert and editor of airlineratings.com, believes the pilot encountered difficult weather conditions but flew too slow to avoid it. 'Pilots believe that the crew, in trying to avoid the thunderstorm by climbing, somehow have

found themselves flying too slow and thus induced an aerodynamic stall similar to the circumstances of the loss of Air France AF447 in 2009,' Mr Thomas told AAP. AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes (bottom left) admitted he had no idea why the plane lost contact with air traffic control with 155 passengers and seven crew members on board, while travelling from Indonesia to Singapore on Sunday. Devastated friends and family of those on board the flight have gathered at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya to await news of the plane. The pilot of the plane has been named as Captain Iriyanto (top right).