| CNN | - |
(CNN)
-- A passenger flight carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing
is missing and would likely have run out of fuel, Malaysia Airlines said
Saturday.
Malaysia Airlines loses contact with passenger jet
updated 9:16 PM EST, Fri March 7, 2014
Malaysia Airlines' VP on fuel concerns
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: "We have no idea where this aircraft is," Malaysia Airlines vice president says
- NEW: "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts," airline CEO says
- Search-and-rescue team has been activated
- Flight was carrying 239 people, including 2 infants
"At the moment we have no
idea where this aircraft is right now," Malaysia Airlines Vice
President of Operations Control Fuad Sharuji said on CNN's "AC360."
Subang Air Traffic Control lost contact with Flight MH370 at about 2:40 a.m. local time (1:40 p.m. ET Friday), Sharuji said.
Airline loses contact with plane
Plane loses contact with airline
"We tried to call this aircraft through various means," he said.
The Boeing 777-200
departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12:41 a.m. and was
expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m., a 2,300-mile (3,700 kilometer)
trip. It was carrying 227 passengers, two of them infants, and 12 crew
members, the airline said.
At the time of its disappearance, the plane was carrying about 7.5 hours of fuel, Sharuji said.
"Malaysia Airlines is
currently working with the authorities who have activated their Search
and Rescue team to locate the aircraft," the statement said. The public
can call +603 7884 1234 for further information.
Efforts to contact the plane were fruitless.
"We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts" with the jet, said CEO Ahmad Juahari Yahya in a statement.
The airline said in a
statement that its representatives were contacting the relatives of
those aboard. "Focus of the airline is to work with the emergency
responders and authorities and mobilize its full support," it said.
"We're closely monitoring reports on Malaysia flight MH370," Boeing said in a tweet. "Our thoughts are with everyone on board."
"It doesn't sound very
good," retired American Airlines Capt. Jim Tilmon told CNN's "AC360." He
noted that the route is mostly overland, which means that there would
be plenty of antennae, radar and radios to contact the plane.
"I've been trying to come up with every scenario that I could just to explain this away, but I haven't been very successful."
He said the plane is "about as sophisticated as any commercial airplane could possibly be," with an excellent safety record.
There is one recent
blemish: An Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 carrying 291 passengers struck a
seawall at San Francisco International Airport in July 2013, killing
three people and wounding dozens more.
China's state-run Xinhua
News Agency reported that Chinese aviation authorities had confirmed
that 160 Chinese nationals were aboard the plane, which was lost from
radar in airspace controlled by Vietnam.
China's embassy in Malaysia has formed an emergency team headed by the Chinese ambassador to deal with the incident, it said.
Malaysia Airlines
operates in Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and
on the route between Europe and Australasia.
The airline's roots date back to 1937, when it operated passenger and cargo flights in Malaysia.
In April 1942, it was incorporated as Malaysia Airways Limited; it later became Malaysia Airlines.
The airline has its
headquarters and registered office at Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in
Subang, Malaysia, and its main airline hub is at Kuala Lumpur
International Airport, according to its website.
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