Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 had gone missing early Saturday. The airlines confirmed the flight was carrying 239 people on board when it lost communications somewhere in the regions near the China border.
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) confirms that flight MH370 is missing. MAS says Subang Air Traffic Control lost contact with the aircraft at 2.40am, Saturday.
In a statement issued by the airline, flight MH370, operated on the B777-200 aircraft, departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41am on 8 March 2014. It was expected to land in Beijing at 6.30am the same day.
The flight was carrying 227 passengers (including 2 infants) and 12 crewmembers.
Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their Search and Rescue team to locate the aircraft.
Malaysian Airlines vice president of operations, Fuad Sharuji during an interview with CNN said that the aircraft should have run out of fuel by 8.30am Saturday morning as it only had seven hours of fuel on board.
In the interview with Anderson Cooper, Fuad explained that the flight which departed 41 minutes after midnight from Kuala Lumpur was supposed to have arrived in Beijing at 6.20am.
“However the plane carrying 239 passengers, of which 227 were passengers while 12 were crew members lost contact with the Subang Air Traffic Control at 2.40am.
“We have tried to track the flight down by getting in touch with nearby aircrafts and other radars along the route, but there is no luck as of now,” he said.
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| Map shows the last known position of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 bound for Beijing. IMAGE: News.com.au |
A report by CCTV news said 160 out of the 227 passengers were Chinese nationals and that China authorities are also in the process of searching for the missing flight.
MAS will provide regular updates on the situation.
The public may contact +603 7884 1234 for further information.--Source: The Star
Official media statement released earlier this morning of the incident:
Saturday, March 08, 09:05 AM MYT +0800 Malaysia Airlines MH370 Flight Incident
We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts with flight MH370 which departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41 am earlier this morning bound for Beijing. The aircraft was scheduled to land at Beijing International Airport at 6.30am local Beijing time. Subang Air Traffic Control reported that it lost contact at 2.40am (local Malaysia time) today.
Flight MH370 was operated on a Boeing B777-200 aircraft. The flight was carrying a total number of 239 passengers and crew – comprising 227 passengers (including 2 infants), 12 crew members. The passengers were of 13 different nationalities. Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their Search and Rescue team to locate the aircraft. Our team is currently calling the next-of-kin of passengers and crew.
Focus of the airline is to work with the emergency responders and authorities and mobilize its full support. Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members. The airline will provide regular updates on the situation.
The public may contact +603 7884 1234. For media queries, kindly contact +603 8777 5698/ +603 8787 1276.