JAKARTA, Dec. 28 -- The searching for the missing AirAsia plane suspended on Monday evening due to darkness at the highly suspected area on the waters near the Bangka Belitung islands and will resume early Monday morning, the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency said.

Planes and helicopters in charge of the search suspended their operation at around 5:00 p.m. local time at nightfall and returned to their base, Ahmad Toha, staff at the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency, told Xinhua in a phone interview, adding that the operation will be restored on 6:00 am on Monday morning.

A search and rescue operation was launched Sunday involving Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia near Bangka Belitung islands in the Java Sea over which the jetliner lost contact with ground traffic control, about 42 minutes after taking off.

Ahmad added that the National Search and Rescue Agency have informed all ships passing by the Bangka Belitung islands to report immediately when they found any traces of the missing plane.

An AirAsia plane from Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore lost contact when flying over the waters around Indonesia's Bangka Belitung islands. A total of 162 people, including 155 passengers and 7 cabin crews are onboard the plane.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo who is now visiting in Papua has ordered various forces to jointly conduct searching effort for the missing AirAsia flight QZ8501.

Six ships from the National Search and Rescue Agency, one helicopter from the AirAsia Indonesia, as well as one Boeing 737 Surveillance aircraft from the Indonesian navy were dispatched to the suspected waters for the search operation, according to the local media.