There are possible signs of the missing AirAsia plane that vanished from radar yesterday while flying from Indonesia to Singapore.

Prior to the search being called off for the day because of darkness, an Indonesian helicopter reported two oil slicks in the Java Sea where crews are looking for the missing Airbus A320. And an Australian search plane spotted objects floating in the ocean hundreds of kilometres away.  But it’s too early to say for certain whether either discovery is related to the jet that vanished.

The plane disappeared while flying through stormy weather.  Former U.S. National Transportation Safety Board chief Deborah Hersman says severe weather doesn’t typically knock large commercial planes from the air.

“It is a factor when you talk about smaller aircraft going into thunderstorms, in flight break-ups are a possibility,” Hersman explained, “but we don’t usually see that with large commercial transport category aircraft.”

AirAsia has a good safety record and has never lost a plane before.