MH370 Updates
UPDATE [3:03pm]: At KLIA, the brother of a passenger says relatives are
being told to bring a valid passport because they need to 'travel to the
crash site'. Relatives have to be at KLIA before 6pm with valid
passports for MAS to make 'travel arrangements'.
Police are escorting grief-stricken relatives out of the holding room.
Many are distraught and in tears.
UPDATE [2:36pm]: Malaysian Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein denies
reports that signal from aircraft has been received in the south of
Vietnam. He says the government has no information of any wreckage at
the moment, but 'are looking at all possibilities'.
The Malaysian government has dispatched a plane, two helicopters and
four vessels to search seas off its east coast in the South China Sea.
The Philippines also sends three navy patrol boats and a surveillance
plane.
AFP, in its live report, has several airline safety experts speaking
about Malaysia Airlines' safety record. Read it here.
Malaysia Airlines says all other flights will proceed as usual, for now.
UPDATE [2:13pm]: MH370 has been removed from the arrivals board at the
Beijing airport. Local media report that the passengers included 24
Chinese artists on their way back from an art exhibition in Malaysia.
UPDATE [2:06pm]: Members of the media have been barred from entering a
special holding area for families of passegers and crew of flight MH370
at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Meanwhile, politician
Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin is being slammed for an insensitive tweet
about a 'new Bermuda triangle'.
UPDATE [12:37]: Tuoi Tre, a leading daily in Vietnam, reports that the
Vietnamese Navy has confirmed the plane crashed into the ocean.
According to Navy Admiral Ngo Van Phat, Commander of the Region 5,
military radar recorded that the plane crashed into the sea at a
location 153 miles South of Phu Quoc island. Full story here.
When contacted, Malaysia Airlines declined to confirm or deny the
reports, saying that the Malaysian authorities are working together with
the Vietnamese government on the matter.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reports that China has dispatched two maritime
rescue ships to help locate the missing plane.
UPDATE [12:01]: Altogether, 239 passengers & crew, from 14 different
nationalities, including two infants. Passengers were from:
1. China - 152 plus 1 infant
2. Malaysia - 38
3. Indonesia - 12
4. Australia - 7
5. France - 3
6. United States of America - 3 plus 1 infant
7. New Zealand - 2
8. Ukraine - 2
9. Canada - 2
10. Russia - 1
11. Italy - 1
12. Taiwan - 1
13. Netherlands - 1
14. Austria - 1
The flight was piloted by Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a Malaysian aged
53. He has a total flying hours of 18,365 hours.
He joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981. First officer, Fariq Ab.Hamid, a
Malaysian, is aged 27. He has a total flying hours of 2,763 hours. He
joined Malaysia Airlines in 2007.
UPDATE [11:32am]: VN Express, Vietnam's largest news site, reports that
Vietnam Emergency Rescue Center just announced it has found signal of
the missing plane at 9.50am 120 miles South West of Ca Mau cape, the
Southern-most point of Vietnam.
The signal is believed to be the ELT (Emergency Locator Transmittor) ,
which can be activated manually by the flight crew or automatically upon
impact.
A Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, China has gone
missing, the airline said.
Earlier this morning, MAS confirmed that flight MH370 had lost contact
with the Subang Air Traffic Control at 2.40am today (March 8th, 2014)
Flight MH370, operated on the B777-200 aircraft, departed Kuala Lumpur
at 12.41am and was expected to land in Beijing at 6.30am the same day.
The flight was carrying a total number of 227 passengers (including 2
infants), 12 crew members.
Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have
activated their Search and Rescue team to locate the aircraft.
Speaking on CNN's AC360, MAS Operations Control Vice President Fuad
Sharuji said they 'have no idea where the aircraft is right now'.
ALSO READ:
Malaysia Airlines hunts for missing plane carrying 239
#PrayForMH370: Concern over MAS flight floods cyberspace
"We tried to call this aircraft through various means," he was quoted as
saying. Sharuji told CNN that the aircraft was carrying 7.5 hours of
fuel at the time of its disappearance (2.40am).
CNN also spoke to retired American Airlines Capt. Jim Tilmon who said
the route taken by the aircraft had plenty of antennae, radar and radios
for contact and that the plane was 'as sophisticated as any commercial
airplane could possibly be with an excellent safety record'.
Journalists attempt to interview a woman who is the relative of a
passenger on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, as she crouches on the
floor crying, at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing
March 8, 2014. The 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.
Flight MH 370, operating a Boeing B777-200 aircraft departed Kuala
Lumpur at 12.21 a.m. (1621 GMT Friday) and had been expected to land in
the Chinese capital at 6.30 a.m. (2230 GMT) the same day. REUTERS/Kim
Kyung-Hoon (CHINA - Tags: TRANSPORT DISASTER MEDIA) less
Editors's note: The public may contact +603 7884 1234. Next-of-kin may
head to the Support Facility Building at KLIA's South Support Zone. For
directions, call 03 8787 1269.
RELATED CONTENT
Search widens in international effort to find missing plane The
Malaysian Insider - 9 hours ago
Oil slick found between Vietnam and Malaysia ‘suspected of being crashed
Boeing aircraft’ The Malaysian Insider - 8 hours ago
Oil slicks seen near where airliner vanished: Vietnam AFP - 2 hours 2
minutes ago
Missing plane search operations in waters off Vietnam-Xinhua Reuters -
13 hours ago
MAS plane still missing, reports of crash premature, says minister The
Malaysian Insider - 14 hours ago
Read More
MOST POPULAR
#PrayForMH370 Live Updates: Families in Beijing not happy at being kept
in the dark Yahoo Newsroom - 19 hours ago
Malaysia Airlines says plane missing Associated Press - 20 hours ago
Malaysia Airlines missing flight: Live Report AFP News - 12 hours ago
Show More
Yahoo News Network
Help / Suggestions Privacy Terms
View Desktop version
No comments:
Post a Comment