A
relative of a passenger onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cries at
the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing March 8, 2014. The
Malaysia Airlines Boeing B777-200 flight carrying 227 passengers and 12
crew lost contact with air traffic controllers early on Saturday en
route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, the airline said in a statement.
Photo: Reuters
There was no Bangladeshi citizen on board the missing flight of
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 carrying 239 people, which lost contact
with air traffic control early Saturday.
A spokesman for the Malaysia Airlines confirmed it, saying there were 227 passengers and 12 crew on the aircraft.
Of the passengers, 152 were Chinese while the rest were from 14 other
countries, including USA, Canada, Australia, Italy and France.
The plane lost contact with air traffic control early in the morning
during flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and the international
aviation authorities could not yet locate the jetliner even several
hours later.
The plane lost communication two hours into the flight over Vietnam
at 1:20am (18:20 GMT Friday), China’s state news agency said. The radar
signal also was lost, Xinhua reported.
This AP file photo shows a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER takes-off at Narita Airport in Narita, near Tokyo.
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 12:41am Saturday (16:41 GMT
Friday) and was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30am 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.
A
woman (C), believed to be the relative of a passenger onboard Malaysia
Airlines flight MH370, covers her face as she cries at the Beijing
Capital International Airport in Beijing on March 8, 2014. Photo:
Reuters
At Beijing’s airport, Zhai Le was waiting for her friends, a couple,
who were on their way back to the Chinese capital on the flight. She
said she was very concerned because she hadn’t been able to reach them.
Airport authorites posted a written notice asking relatives and
friends of passengers to gather to a hotel about 30 minutes drive from
the airport to wait for further information, and provided a shuttle bus
service.
Another woman wept aboard the shuttle bus while talking by mobile phone,” They want us to go to the hotel. It cannot be good!”
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.
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