Search on for missing plane

KUALA LUMPUR, Philippines – A Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew went missing over the South China Sea yesterday and is presumed to have crashed, as ships 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, but Malaysia’s transport minister later denied any crash scene had been identified.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said that no sign had yet been found of the missing aircraft.

He said search operations in an area about midway between Malaysia and Vietnam’s southern coast were being intensified.

“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.

Vietnam’s state-run Tuoi Tre news also quoted Admiral Ngo Van Phat as qualifying his earlier remarks about a crash site having been identified, saying he had been referring to a presumed crash site beneath the plane’s flight path using information supplied by Malaysia.

If the aircraft had indeed crashed, it would mark the US-built airliner’s deadliest accident since entering service 19 years ago.

An Asiana Airlines Boeing 777-200ER crash-landed in San Francisco in July 2013, killing three passengers and injuring more than 180.

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 without issuing a distress call.

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 Airlines had yet to confirm that the aircraft had crashed and cited early speculation that the plane may have landed in Nanming in southern China.

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 a news conference in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia and Vietnam were conducting a joint search and rescue, he said, but gave no details.

“We deeply regret that we have lost all contact with flight MH370 which departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.21 a.m. earlier this morning bound for Beijing,” Jauhari said in a statement.

The statement said the Malaysian flag carrier was working with authorities who had launched an effort to locate the aircraft.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members,” the official said.

“Our team is currently calling the next-of-kin of passengers and crew,” Ahmad Jauhari said.

Rescue ships deployed

China has sent two maritime rescue ships to the South China Sea to help in any rescue, state television said on one of its microblogs.

“We are extremely worried,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing before the Vietnamese report that the plane had crashed. “The news is very disturbing. We hope everyone on the plane is safe. We are doing all we can to get more details,” Wang said.

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 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.

Malaysia Airlines said people from 14 nationalities were among the 227 passengers, including at least 152 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, 12 Indonesians, six Australians, and three Americans.

Boeing said it was aware of reports that the Malaysia Airlines plane was missing and 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.

The airline’s Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route passes over the Indochinese peninsula.

A Malaysian Airlines spokeswoman said she could not immediately provide further details, but the airline said it would soon hold a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

A report by China’s Xinhua news agency said contact was lost with the plane while it was over Vietnamese airspace.

Xinhua also quoted Chinese aviation authorities as saying the plane did not enter China’s air traffic control sphere.

A spokeswoman with a Thai agency that monitors the country’s airspace also said the plane also did not cross over Thailand. Vietnamese officials said they had no information on the plane.

A Beijing airport spokeswoman said the facility had activated an emergency response system. Screens at the airport indicated the flight was “delayed.”

New setback

An accident would be a huge blow for the carrier, which has bled money for years as it struggles to fend off competition from rivals such as fast-growing AirAsia.

It recorded its fourth straight quarterly loss during the final three months of 2013 and warned of a “challenging” year ahead due to intense competition.

The carrier admitted in 2012 it was in “crisis,” forcing it to implement a cost-cutting campaign centered on slashing routes and other measures.

In 2011, it chalked up a record 2.5 billion ringgit ($767 million) loss.

“We are closely monitoring reports on Malaysia flight MH370. Our thoughts are with everyone on board,” Boeing said in a statement on its Twitter feed.

Boeing has been beset by problems with its high-tech 787 Dreamliners put into service two years ago, including a months-long global grounding over battery problems last year.

The information vacuum regarding the flight touched off a frenzy on social media, which saw an outpouring of concern for passengers and unconfirmed rumors that the plane had landed safely in southern China.

Malaysia Airlines has suffered few accidents in its history. One of its jets crashed in 1977 in southern Malaysia, killing all 93 passengers and seven crew.

A smaller Twin Otter aircraft, operated by its unit MASwings, crashed upon landing in Malaysia’s Sabah state on Borneo island last October, killing a co-pilot and a passenger.

There were no immediate signs of passenger relatives descending in large numbers on Beijing’s airport.

An AFP journalist saw one woman enter the arrival zone at the airport and break down in tears. She was led away by police.