[breaking] Malaysian Airlines loses contact with Beijing-bound flight, 239 on board

Vietnam says missing Malaysian plane's signal detected

HANOI, March 8 (Xinhua) -- A Vietnamese official of search and rescue said Saturday that the signal of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has been detected, local media reported.

The official told local VNExpress that the signal of the plane carrying 239 people has been detected at some 120 nautical miles southwest of Vietnam's southernmost Ca Mau province.

Vietnam has ordered all its search centers to search for the plane, said the official.

Earlier, Vietnamese transport minister said the country agreed with Malaysian authorities to coordinate in search and rescue work.

The Malaysian passenger plane with 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board lost contact with air traffic control on its way from Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur to China's capital Beijing, the carrier said Saturday.

Malaysia Airlines said flight MH370 operated on a Boeing 777- 200 lost touch with Subang Air Traffic Control at around 02:40 a.m. local time Saturday (1840 GMT Friday). The passengers were of 13 different nationalities, it added.

The Malaysia Airlines said there were 152 Chinese nationals aboard, including one infant.

The aircraft left Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 00:41 a. m. Saturday (1641 GMT Friday) and was expected to land in Beijing at 06:30 a.m. Saturday (2230 GMT Friday).

"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," said Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, Malaysia Arlines group chief executive officer.

"The flight was carrying 227 passengers (including two infants), 12 crew members," the airline said in a statement posted on its website.

"Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their search and rescue team to locate the aircraft," the airline said.

"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," it said in a second statement.

The flight lost radar contact in airspace controlled by Vietnam in the early hours of Saturday morning.

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RIP to all those who died. Hopefully, there are survivors.

 

Really sad.... especially being an ocean wreck too.

 

damnn... this makes me afraid to fly

I wonder what caused it to crash

rip

 

I have a fear of flying myself but I still do it. Somebody convince me it's as safe as they say.

 

Whenever you hear that communication has been lost with an aircraft, just assume it's crashed or exploded. If the pause has been long enough for legit news media to report the story, it's already ended badly.

RIP.

 

Malaysia airlines isn't known for it's safety. Many American companies don't allow their travel departments to book on them.

With that said, as someone who flies more than 100 flights a year... you have a much higher chance of dying on your way to the airport, than you do on a plane. The statistics are pretty astronomical really.

 

rip, there was really no other possibility, unfortunately

 

Indeed. The safest part of any trip is when you are in the air. Not a debatable point. But the idea of being way up in the air, having no control of the aircraft, etc, trump the facts for many people.

 

Source?

I usually see Malaysia Airlines in the list of best airlines.

 

Yep. The illusion of control.

 

So close to what? 4.5 million people fly on a plane a day. Not one of your destinations is close to anything worth mentioning in this thread. I promise you the FO flying your plane will not be 27 years old. And you have a better chance of getting into an accident driving to the airport. So close to home?

 

Eerily similar to Air France 447.

RIP

 

RIP

I'm sorry for those people who lost their loved ones.

:'(

 

I know several people that book corporate travel for some major corporations.

From what I've been told, it is because they have older regulations than most countries. Latest amendments to their aviation regulations were in 2004.

Which was probably about the same time their website was updated - http://www.dca.gov.my/Division/Puu/regulations.html

Also, as Americans of course the fact that it is a Muslim country makes it higher risk from an insurance perspective.

 

years ago qantas, an australian airline that used to rate no.1 on the airline safety index, moved their maintenance offshore, ie malaysia to save money.

they have had incidents with malfunctions and minor crashes ever since.

 

Yup, see my post above. Their regulations haven't been updated in 10 years.

 

He's flying international though as well. Over water. I would be concerned too.

 

Flying over land doesn't increase your chances of surviving a plane crash

Also, the safest time to fly is after a major crash - because everyone will do their due diligence.

 

so sad... and another Boeing..