A Malaysia Airlines 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. "Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their search-and-rescue teams to locate the aircraft," it said.Malaysia Flight Missing with 239 on Board to Beijing 'We Have No Idea Where It is' KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Statement from Malaysia Airlines: Statement By Our Group Chief Executive Officer, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya on MH370 Incident. Released at 9.05am/8 Mar 2014 MY Local Time 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. The aircraft was scheduled to land at Beijing International Airport at 6.30am local Beijing time. Subang Air Traffic Control reported that it lost contact at 2.40am (local Malaysia time) today.Flight MH370 was operated on a Boeing B777-200 aircraft. The flight was carrying a total number of 239 passengers and crew -- comprising 227 passengers (including 2 infants), 12 crew members. The passengers were of 13 different nationalities. Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their Search and Rescue team to locate the aircraft. 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." Previous Coverage: Malaysia Airlines says it has lost contact with a plane carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew on route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The airline says that Flight MH370 has lost contact with Subang air traffic control at 2:40 a.m. Saturday. The flight is operated on the Boeing 777-200 aircraft. It departed Kuala Lumpur at 12: 41 a.m. Saturday and was expected to land in Beijing at 6: 30 a.m. the same day. The flight was carrying a total number of 227 passengers, including two infants, and 12 crew members.Vietnam is heavily shrouded in forest and there were no immediate reports coming from that country of an aircraft crashing. Vietnamese authorites said they were investigating the aircraft's disappearance. Malaysian Airlines said the passengers on board were of 13 nationalities. 'Our team is currently calling the next of kin of passengers and crew,' said the airline's chief executive, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, as the airline issued a statement saying its 'thoughts and prayers' were with all those on board as well as their families. Unconfirmed reports said it was believed the missing aircraft was involved in a crash in August 2012 when it damaged the tail of a China Eastern Airlines plane at Shanghai Pudong Airport. The reports said that in that incident the tip of the wing of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 broke off. Crying relatives of Chinese passengers on board the plane wept at Beijing airport as it became clear the jet had probably crashed. Retired American Airlines captain Jim Tilmon told CNN today (Sat) that 'it doesn't sound very good,' as the search continued for the missing jet. 'The route is mostly overland, which means there would be plenty of radars and radios to contact the plane. But if nothing has been heard... '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.' Mr Tilmon said the jet was 'about as sophisticated as any commercial airplane could possibly be.'Search on after Malaysia Airlines flight vanishesMalaysia Airlines flight MH370 carrying 239 people crashed into the sea, reports Vietnamese state media citing a Navy official. The craft disappeared from radars early on Saturday morning over Vietnamese airspace. Vietnamese state media said the plane came down close to Vietnam's Tho Chu Island, however these reports have not yet been confirmed by Malaysia AirlinesMalaysia Airlines flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur at 12.21am Vietnamese Navy detected emergency signal 153 miles out to sea Flight MH370 declared missing nearly 90 minutes after it was due to land Malaysian Transport Minister said 'no crash site has been found' 227 passengers and 12 crew were from 14 different countries including Malaysia, China, U.S., France, Canada, and Australia One passenger is believed to have been travelling on a stolen passport Aviation expert Chris Yates said the aircraft will not have been carrying enough fuel to still be flying and 'will have crashed' He said the investigation will look at two areas, the maintenance of the aircraft and possible terrorism 2 stolen passaportKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Statement from Malaysia Airlines: Statement By Our Group Chief Executive Officer, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya on MH370 Incident. Released at 9.05am/8 Mar 2014 MY Local Time

• published: 08 Mar 2014
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