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| Map shows where missing plane departed and scheduled to land; 2c x 3 inches; 96.3 mm x 76 mm; |
KUALA LUMPUR,
Malaysia (AP) -- A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 carrying 239
people lost contact with air traffic control early Saturday morning on a
flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and international aviation
authorities still hadn't located the jetliner several hours later.
The
plane lost communication two hours into the flight over Vietnam at 1:20
a.m. (18:20 GMT Friday), China's state news agency said. The radar
signal also was lost, Xinhua reported.
There
were rumors the plane had landed safely, but Fuad Sharuji, Malaysian
Airlines' vice president of operations control, told CNN that they were
untrue and the airline had no idea where the plane was. AirAsia CEO Tony
Fernandes sent a tweet saying that the radio failed and all were safe,
but the tweet was later deleted.
Sharuji said that the plane was flying at an altitude of 35,000 feet and that the pilots reported no problem with the aircraft.
Flight
MH370 departed Kuala Lumpur at 12:41 a.m. Saturday (16:41 GMT Friday)
and was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m. Saturday (22:30 GMT
Friday), Malaysia Airlines said.
The plane was carrying 227 passengers, including two infants, and 12 crew members, the airline said.
The
airline said it was working with authorities who activated their search
and rescue teams to locate the aircraft. The route would take the
aircraft from Malaysia across to Vietnam and China.
"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," Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari
Yahya said in a statement.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members," he added.
Malaysia
Airlines has 15 Boeing 777-200 jets in its fleet of about 100 planes.
The state-owned carrier last month reported its fourth straight
quarterly loss.
The 777 had not had a fatal
crash in its 20 year history until the Asiana crash in San Francisco in
July 2013.
All 16 crew members survived, but thee of the 291 passengers,
all teenage girls from China, were killed.
