Tony Fernandes, the man who is widely credited with reviving Malaysian carrier AirAsia, faced his first major crisis after Air Asia flight QZ8501 went missing on Saturday with 162 people on board. As he described it, the tragedy was his ‘biggest nightmare.’ [caption id=“attachment_925649” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes. Reuters[/caption] A UK-trained accountant and former Warner Music executive, Fernandes bought over the then loss-making AirAsia in 2001 from Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom for a single Malaysian ringgit — worth less than 35 US cents at the time. Fernandes has been communicating with the public via Twitter since the plane’s disappearance Saturday night – 7:24 a.m. Sunday, Singapore time – on its way from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Malaysian businessman tweeted that he was on his way to Surabaya early Sunday morning, since so many of the passengers were based there. This incident caps a disastrous year for Malaysian aviation which saw beleaguered rival Malaysia Airlines suffer two air tragedies in rapid succession. Impact Shorts More Shorts Sudan massacre: Satellite images show pools of blood & piles of bodies in city captured by RSF ‘Elections without all parties can’t be credible’: Ex-Bangladesh PM Hasina on Awami League ban AirAsia, which started with two planes when Fernandes bought it, now operates a fleet of more than 160 AirBus A320 aircraft. The flamboyant Malaysian-born, British-educated Fernandes wanted to build cheap flights across Asia while he attended a boarding school in England because he couldn’t frequently visit home due to the high cost of travel, reported Reuters. Fernandes is now the 28th richest person in Malaysia, with a net worth of $650 million, according to Forbes. However, most believe this incident will not dampen Fernandes’ entrepreneurial spirit. “This incident will not dampen Fernandes’ business spirit. This is such an unfortunate incident. AirAsia remains a strong budget carrier. I think the people will rally behind AirAsia,” Endau Analytics aviation analyst Shukor Yusof told AFP. Fernandes was at the airport himself trying to comfort the families on Sunday night. However, according to Reuters, “the airline could offer little besides food, a hotel for the night and assurances that all was being done to find the lost plane.”