AirAsia QZ8501: mentions of crash being removed from Wikipedia sites

Little to no mention of crash on related pages, and new edits swiftly deleted

(MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images)

References to the crash of the AirAsia plane QZ8501 are being removed Wikipedia, leading to very little information on the airline’s page or those associated with it.

There is only one reference to QZ8501 on AirAsia’s main page — one sentence as part of the description of the airline’s fleet.

An edit was created describing incidents on the airline’s flights, including QZ8501 as well as a plane that overshot the runway just days after that crash, but was swiftly removed.

The users that delete the references to the crash commonly reference the page’s convention that information on AirAsia affiliates, such as the Indonesian airline, is kept to a minimum.

AirAsia is based in Malaysia, and the crashed plane was being operated by Indonesia AirAsia, a part of the airline’s affiliate group.

But clicking through to the page for Indonesia AirAsia also shows little information on the crash.

The crash is described in a small part of the page, low down, under the header “Incidents and accidents”. But the top of the page makes no mention of the crash, instead describing the airline’s success.

The page does feature flattering information on the airline’s safety record — including the fact that it is commended by the Indonesia Civil Aviation Authority for its safety — and its domination of the local market.

The crash does have its own page, titled ‘Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501’, which is linked to by the AirAsia Indonesia page, as well as showing up early in Google searches for related pages.