Indonesia has accepted Australia's offer to help with the search and rescue mission for missing AsiaAir flight QZ8501, which vanished over the Java Sea on Sunday.
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop phoned her Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, shortly after the plane's disappearance was made public.
No Australians were on board but the government is cross-checking the flight manifest to see if any dual Australian citizens were on board.
On Monday, the Australian Defence Force said it had dispatched an RAAF AP-3C Orion aircraft from Darwin to assist with the Indonesian-led search.
"Our focus at this point must be on finding the plane... at this stage we are just hoping and praying that some passengers and crew can be rescued," Ms Bishop said.
But she warned that "as time goes on" fears about the fate of the 162 passengers and crew would likely be confirmed.
Defence Force Chief Mark Binskin said the P3 Orion has "a well-proven capability" in search and rescues and carries maritime search radar, infra-red technology and electro-optical sensors.
Ms Bishop said Singapore had also provided support for the search effort given it was the country where the plane was originally due to land after its departure from Indonesia.
Speaking to ABC television, Ms Bishop revealed that during her conversation with Ms Marsudi she reflected on how aircraft disasters had brought Australia and Indonesia closer together in 2014.
"I was talking to Foreign Minister Marsudi about Malaysia Airlines MH17 because she was Indonesia's ambassador to the Netherlands during the MH17 tragedy," she said.
"Indonesia lost 12 citizens on that flight, so we were discussing how sad it was that so often when we speak it's in relation to an emergency or a tragedy involving an airline."
