Malaysia Airlines loses contact with jet carrying 239 people

[Karee 4,191]

(CNN) -- A passenger flight carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing is missing and would likely have run out of fuel, Malaysia Airlines said Saturday.

"At the moment we have no idea where this aircraft is right now," Malaysia Airlines Vice President of Operations Control Fuad Sharuji said on CNN's "AC360."

Subang Air Traffic Control lost contact with Flight MH370 at about 2:40 a.m. local time (1:40 p.m. ET Friday), Sharuji said.

"We tried to call this aircraft through various means," he said.

The Boeing 777-200 departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12:41 a.m. and was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m., a 2,300-mile (3,700 kilometer) trip. It was carrying 227 passengers, two of them infants, and 12 crew members, the airline said.

The passengers are of 13 nationalities, the airline said.

At the time of its disappearance, the plane was carrying about 7.5 hours of fuel, Sharuji said.

"Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their Search and Rescue team to locate the aircraft," the statement said. The public can call +603 7884 1234 for further information.

Efforts to contact the plane were fruitless.

"We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts" with the jet, said CEO Ahmad Juahari Yahya in a statement.

The airline said in a statement that its representatives were contacting the relatives of those aboard. "Focus of the airline is to work with the emergency responders and authorities and mobilize its full support," it said.

"We're closely monitoring reports on Malaysia flight MH370," Boeing said in a tweet. "Our thoughts are with everyone on board."

"It doesn't sound very good," retired American Airlines Capt. Jim Tilmon told CNN's "AC360." He noted that the route is mostly overland, which means that there would be plenty of antennae, radar and radios to contact the plane.

"I've been trying to come up with every scenario that I could just to explain this away, but I haven't been very successful."

He said the plane is "about as sophisticated as any commercial airplane could possibly be," with an excellent safety record.

There is one recent blemish: An Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 carrying 291 passengers struck a seawall at San Francisco International Airport in July 2013, killing three people and wounding dozens more.

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that Chinese aviation authorities had confirmed that 160 Chinese nationals were aboard the plane, which was lost from radar in airspace controlled by Vietnam.

China's embassy in Malaysia has formed an emergency team headed by the Chinese ambassador to deal with the incident, it said.

Malaysia Airlines operates in Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and on the route between Europe and Australasia.

The airline's roots date back to 1937, when it operated passenger and cargo flights in Malaysia.

In April 1942, it was incorporated as Malaysia Airways Limited; it later became Malaysia Airlines.

The airline has its headquarters and registered office at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Malaysia, and its main airline hub is at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, according to its website.

Source:

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/07/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane-missing/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[Pugpig 15]

Oh my goodness! How frightening and sad.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

My wife used to fly with them as a stewardess. She's checking home right now.

[Pooky 3,840]

Reports say contact was lost with the aircraft at an altitude of 35,000 ft. No emergency squawk was picked up. My first reaction is a sudden catastrophic event.

The flight has been missing for over 9 hours at this point, with fuel enough for 7.5 hours flying time, so it's down somewhere.

The OP article misses the other black mark against the B777, when a BA flight suffered engine problems on approach to LHR and landed short and hard.

[jfgk1987 303]

UPDATE [12:37]: Tuoi Tre, a leading daily in Vietnam, reports that the Vietnamese Navy has confirmed the plane crashed into the ocean. According to Navy Admiral Ngo Van Phat, Commander of the Region 5, military radar recorded that the plane crashed into the sea at a location 153 miles South of Phu Quoc island.

http://my.news.yahoo.com/mas-aircraft-goes-missing--says-airline-023820132.html

[TBoneTX 46,226]

Sincere sympathies.

[Messybrownhair 251]

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

My God. Thanks for the update, my wife knows the captain and two flight crew. I'll tell her.

[LibCampFireClub 635]

This was a Boeing 777, which is a modern aircraft. I hope it doesn't turn out to be foul play.

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

http://news.yahoo.com/malaysia-airlines-loses-contact-beijing-bound-flight-carrying-010217680--finance.html

Sounds like they're still looking...

[LibCampFireClub 635]

http://news.yahoo.com/malaysia-airlines-loses-contact-beijing-bound-flight-carrying-010217680--finance.html

Sounds like they're still looking...

A new report states that the Vietnamese navy has found debris and oil slick that is believed to be from the plane. The report hasn't hit the print media yet.

Edited March 8, 2014 by ExExpat

[LibCampFireClub 635]

Vietnamese search aircraft has found two, narrowly-spaced oil slicks in the South China Sea and is working to verify if belongs to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, according to a statement posted on the government’s web site. The 10-15km-long oil slicks spaced 500m apart were discovered 140km south of Tho Chu Island, which is located off the southwest coast of Vietnam, the statement says.

The observations were made with the “naked eye” of the search crews, the statement reports.Malaysia Airlines has not yet confirmed the possible sighting of debris belonging to MH370. The airline released a statement 18:40 in Malaysia in response to desperate public inquiries about the fate of the aircraft, which was reported missing more than 11h earlier. “We’re accelerating every effort with all relevant authorities to locate the aircraft,” the airline says.

The Boeing 777-200 with 239 passengers and crew departed Kuala Lumpur at 00:41 with a scheduled arrival in Beijing at 06:30.

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/possible-debris-spotted-from-missing-malaysian-airlines-777-396798/

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

I hope they can confirm either way. It must be hell for the families.

[LibCampFireClub 635]

I hope they can confirm either way. It must be hell for the families.

http://www.beijingnews.net/index.php/sid/220381231/scat/55582c89cb296d4c/ht/Families-Voice-Frustration-in-Wait-for-Word-on-Vanished-Malaysian-Airlines-Flight

Families Voice Frustration in Wait for Word on Vanished Malaysian Airlines Flight

BEIJING A Malaysia Airlines plane with more than 200 people on board lost contact with air traffic controllers shortly after it took off from Kuala Lumpur late Friday. Although a search and rescue mission is underway little is still known about the fate of the flight, which presumably crashed. Family members say they are getting little information about what happened and getting increasingly frustrated.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people, including 227 passengers and 12 crew members. Most of the passengers were Chinese nationals. Two infants were also on board. The airline says that in addition to the 152 Chinese nationals board there were also 38 Malaysians, 12 Indonesians, seven Australians, three French and four Americans, one of whom was an infant.The flight was originally supposed to arrive in Beijing at 6:30 in the morning local time Saturday. Authorities brought many of the family members and loved ones of those on board to a hotel in Beijing where they waited anxiously for news. The situation at the hotel was chaotic with scores of reporters waiting for updates from the airline and family members growing increasingly frustrated.

[Glyn and Kathy 288]

Poor families must be insane with anxiety and grief....not knowing. How horrible