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KUALA LUMPUR/HANOI (Reuters) - A Malaysia
Airlines flight carrying 227 passengers and 12
crew went missing over the South China Sea on
Saturday, presumed crashed, as ships and
planes from countries closest to its flight path
scoured a large search area for any wreckage.
Vietnamese state media, quoting a senior naval
official, had reported that the Boeing
777-200ER flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing
had crashed off south Vietnam. Malaysia's
transport minister later denied any crash scene
had been identified.
"We are doing everything in our power to
locate the plane.
We are doing everything we can to ensure
every possible angle has been addressed,"
Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein told
reporters near the Kuala Lumpur International
Airport.
"We are looking for accurate information from
the Malaysian military. They are waiting for
information from the Vietnamese side," he
said.
Vietnamese Admiral Ngo Van Phat later
qualified his earlier remarks about a crash site
having been identified and told Reuters he was
referring to a presumed location beneath the
plane's flight path, using information supplied
by Malaysia.
A crash, if confirmed, would likely mark the
U.S.-built Boeing 777-200ER airliner's
deadliest incident since entering service 19
years ago.
The plane disappeared without giving a distress
signal - a chilling echo of an Air France flight
that crashed into the South Atlantic on June 1,
2009, killing all 228 people on board. It
vanished for hours before wreckage was found.
Search and rescue vessels from the Malaysian
maritime enforcement agency reached the area
where the plane last made contact at about
4.30 p.m. Singapore time (0830 GMT) but saw
no immediate sign of wreckage, a Malaysian
Maritime Enforcement Agency told Reuters.
VANISHED AFTER REACHING 35,000 FEET
Flight MH370, operating a Boeing 777-200ER
aircraft, last had contact with air traffic
controllers 120 nautical miles off the east
coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu,
Malaysia Airlines chief executive Ahmad Jauhari
Yahya said in a statement read to an earlier
news conference in Kuala Lumpur.
There were no reports of bad weather in the
area.
The airline said people from 14 nationalities
were among the 227 passengers - at least 152
Chinese, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six
Australians, five Indians, four French and three
Americans. A Chinese infant and an American
infant were also on board.
"The Australian government fears the worst for
those aboard missing Malaysia Airlines flight
MH370," a spokeswoman for Australia's
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.
Flight tracking website flightaware.com showed
the plane flew northeast over Malaysia after
takeoff and climbed to an altitude of 35,000
feet. The flight vanished from the website's
tracking records a minute later while it was
still climbing.
Malaysia and Vietnam were conducting a joint
search and rescue operation, while China and
the Philippines have sent ships to the South
China Sea to help. The Philippines also
dispatched a military plane to help in the
search.
China has also put other ships and aircraft on
standby, said Transport Minister Yang
Chuantang.
"EXTREMELY WORRIED"
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told
reporters in Beijing before the initial
Vietnamese report that the plane had crashed
that China was "extremely worried" about the
fate of the plane and those on board. "The
news is very disturbing. We hope everyone on
the plane is safe," Wang said.
The flight was operating as a China Southern
Airlines codeshare.
The flight left Kuala Lumpur at 12.21 a.m.
(11.21 a.m. ET Friday) but no trace had been
found of the plane more than eight hours after
it was due to land in the Chinese capital at
6.30 a.m. (5.30 p.m. ET Friday) the same day.
"We deeply regret that we have lost all
contacts with flight MH370," Jauhari said.
Malaysia Airlines has one of the best safety
records among full-service carriers in the Asia-
Pacific region.
It identified the pilot of MH370 as Captain
Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a 53-year-old Malaysian
who joined the carrier in 1981 and has 18,365
hours of flight experience.
Chinese state media said 24 Chinese artists and
family members, who were in Kuala Lumpur
for an art exchange program, were aboard. The
Sichuan provincial government said Zhang
Jinquan, a well-known calligrapher, was on the
flight.
If it is confirmed that the plane crashed, the
loss would mark the second fatal accident
involving a Boeing 777 in less than a year and
by far the worst since the jet entered service
in 1995.
An Asiana Airlines Boeing 777-200ER crash-
landed in San Francisco in July 2013, killing
three passengers and injuring more than 180.
Boeing said it was monitoring the situation but
had no further comment. The flight was
operating as a China Southern Airlines
codeshare.
An official at the Civil Aviation Authority of
Vietnam said the plane had failed to check in
as scheduled at 1721 GMT while it was flying
over the sea between Malaysia and Ho Chi
Minh city.
Airlines flight carrying 227 passengers and 12
crew went missing over the South China Sea on
Saturday, presumed crashed, as ships and
planes from countries closest to its flight path
scoured a large search area for any wreckage.
Vietnamese state media, quoting a senior naval
official, had reported that the Boeing
777-200ER flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing
had crashed off south Vietnam. Malaysia's
transport minister later denied any crash scene
had been identified.
"We are doing everything in our power to
locate the plane.
We are doing everything we can to ensure
every possible angle has been addressed,"
Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein told
reporters near the Kuala Lumpur International
Airport.
"We are looking for accurate information from
the Malaysian military. They are waiting for
information from the Vietnamese side," he
said.
Vietnamese Admiral Ngo Van Phat later
qualified his earlier remarks about a crash site
having been identified and told Reuters he was
referring to a presumed location beneath the
plane's flight path, using information supplied
by Malaysia.
A crash, if confirmed, would likely mark the
U.S.-built Boeing 777-200ER airliner's
deadliest incident since entering service 19
years ago.
The plane disappeared without giving a distress
signal - a chilling echo of an Air France flight
that crashed into the South Atlantic on June 1,
2009, killing all 228 people on board. It
vanished for hours before wreckage was found.
Search and rescue vessels from the Malaysian
maritime enforcement agency reached the area
where the plane last made contact at about
4.30 p.m. Singapore time (0830 GMT) but saw
no immediate sign of wreckage, a Malaysian
Maritime Enforcement Agency told Reuters.
VANISHED AFTER REACHING 35,000 FEET
Flight MH370, operating a Boeing 777-200ER
aircraft, last had contact with air traffic
controllers 120 nautical miles off the east
coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu,
Malaysia Airlines chief executive Ahmad Jauhari
Yahya said in a statement read to an earlier
news conference in Kuala Lumpur.
There were no reports of bad weather in the
area.
The airline said people from 14 nationalities
were among the 227 passengers - at least 152
Chinese, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six
Australians, five Indians, four French and three
Americans. A Chinese infant and an American
infant were also on board.
"The Australian government fears the worst for
those aboard missing Malaysia Airlines flight
MH370," a spokeswoman for Australia's
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.
Flight tracking website flightaware.com showed
the plane flew northeast over Malaysia after
takeoff and climbed to an altitude of 35,000
feet. The flight vanished from the website's
tracking records a minute later while it was
still climbing.
Malaysia and Vietnam were conducting a joint
search and rescue operation, while China and
the Philippines have sent ships to the South
China Sea to help. The Philippines also
dispatched a military plane to help in the
search.
China has also put other ships and aircraft on
standby, said Transport Minister Yang
Chuantang.
"EXTREMELY WORRIED"
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told
reporters in Beijing before the initial
Vietnamese report that the plane had crashed
that China was "extremely worried" about the
fate of the plane and those on board. "The
news is very disturbing. We hope everyone on
the plane is safe," Wang said.
The flight was operating as a China Southern
Airlines codeshare.
The flight left Kuala Lumpur at 12.21 a.m.
(11.21 a.m. ET Friday) but no trace had been
found of the plane more than eight hours after
it was due to land in the Chinese capital at
6.30 a.m. (5.30 p.m. ET Friday) the same day.
"We deeply regret that we have lost all
contacts with flight MH370," Jauhari said.
Malaysia Airlines has one of the best safety
records among full-service carriers in the Asia-
Pacific region.
It identified the pilot of MH370 as Captain
Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a 53-year-old Malaysian
who joined the carrier in 1981 and has 18,365
hours of flight experience.
Chinese state media said 24 Chinese artists and
family members, who were in Kuala Lumpur
for an art exchange program, were aboard. The
Sichuan provincial government said Zhang
Jinquan, a well-known calligrapher, was on the
flight.
If it is confirmed that the plane crashed, the
loss would mark the second fatal accident
involving a Boeing 777 in less than a year and
by far the worst since the jet entered service
in 1995.
An Asiana Airlines Boeing 777-200ER crash-
landed in San Francisco in July 2013, killing
three passengers and injuring more than 180.
Boeing said it was monitoring the situation but
had no further comment. The flight was
operating as a China Southern Airlines
codeshare.
An official at the Civil Aviation Authority of
Vietnam said the plane had failed to check in
as scheduled at 1721 GMT while it was flying
over the sea between Malaysia and Ho Chi
Minh city.
