MH 777 missing - MH370 media statement

[Bindibuys]

Events like this make our "upgrades" and "lounge access" quibbles pale into insignificance.
Be thankful for flights that simply take off and land without incidence.
Our AFF group thoughts to to those Australians missing, and their families waiting for news.

 

[Programme]

An emergency message has been sent out citing the last known coordinates being 6°56'N 103°35'E.

MH370 Malaysian Airlines B772 Missing Enroute KUL-PEK Part 2 — Civil Aviation Forum | Airliners.net

MALAYSIA FLAG. LOST CONTACT AND CAPABLE AIRCRAFT CRASHED. THE LAST CONTACT IN POSITION 6°56'N 103°35'E. PASSENGERS 239.

VESSELS IN VICINITY REQUESTED TO KEEP A SHARP LOOK-OUT AND ASSIST IMMEDIATELY. IF ANY INFORMATION PLEASE REPORT DIRECTLY TO VUNGTAU

Plotting that on GCMapper places it in the Gulf of Thailand, between Malaysia's East coast and Vietnam.

 

[Grooba]

The passengers are of 13 nationalities, the airline said. They were from China and Taiwan (154), Malaysia (38), Indonesia (12), Australia (7), France (3), United States (4), New Zealand (2), Ukraine (2), Canada (2), Russia (1), Italy (1), Netherlands (1), Austria (1).

Search launched for Malaysian airliner carrying 239 people - CNN.com

 

[straitman]

Very, very sad news!!! It's been confirmed that the plane crashed into the ocean.
#PrayForMH370: MH370 removed from the arrivals board at Beijing airport

Go back to post #77.

This has been denied.

 

[straitman]

[mod hat on] Maybe it is time for a few people to have a little think here and post only facts at this very difficult and distressing time.

Let's all keep the speculation to ourselves please.[/mod hat off]

 

[ozkid]

In Kuala Lumpur right now. Arrived from Kathmandu on MAS last night, along with my travel group.
Mood here is sombre and sad. Everyone here already knows deep down that it will be a tragic outcome.

I'm flying MAS to Singapore tomorrow to connect with QF back home. It's completely and utterly irrational I know but I am going to be feeling a bit weird stepping on board

Thoughts and peace to those affected

 

[Austman]

Update from MAS, dated less than an hour ago:

We regret to announce that Subang Traffic Control lost contact with flight MH370 at 2:40 am today.
We are currently working with international authorities on the search and rescue mission and as at 1400 hours, 08 March 2014, we have no information on the location of the airline.

MH370 Flight Incident | Malaysia Airlines

 

[Welsh-Kiwi]

Very sad news. Let's hope we can learn from what happened in these tragic circumstances.

 

[Limewood]

Agree with others, just so tragic and so sad to hear of this today.

 

[Intra]

Just turned on my TV in my motel room in Hamilton, after a day disconnected from the news.... So sad

My thoughts & prayers are with the passengers & families of those passengers missing.

 

[hedge]

Been watching this all day. Very sad to see and my thoughts and prayers are with those on board and the relatives/friends of those on board.

 

[Duffa]

In Kuala Lumpur right now. Arrived from Kathmandu on MAS last night, along with my travel group.
Mood here is sombre and sad. Everyone here already knows deep down that it will be a tragic outcome.

I'm flying MAS to Singapore tomorrow to connect with QF back home. It's completely and utterly irrational I know but I am going to be feeling a bit weird stepping on board

Thoughts and peace to those affected

My 18-yr old son texted me a few minutes ago, having just found out. "I'm never flying with them again, Dad"
I explained that this was a tragic one-off and told him I'll be back on MH, no worries.
Totally understand your concerns, Ozkid. Safe journey.

Thoughts with those who have lost

 

[HarryB]

Terrible situation. I can't imagine what family and friends are going through right now given the speculation and waiting for news. Not to mention what the PAX onboard went through.

It is sickening just thinking about it.

 

[MH_fan]

I'm still in shock that this is even happening! I fly MAS so often that this has really hit close to home. I just find it so annoying when friends of mine just say "I'm never flying with MAS again". I understand their thought process but it is such a simple way of thinking.
This situation also puts air travel in perspective. We quibble about so many minor things when we travel but forget to be simply thankful that we arrive at our destination safely.

 

[DrA]

A horrible thing, assuming the reports of a crash are accurate. It's one thing that creeps me out, to think about sitting in a plane going down and knowing what's coming. I'd rather just go and not have any time to think about it. Morbid.

I've got a few upcoming trips on MH, and concede my initial reaction was "oh, I totally need to change my flights"...A couple of hours later I was a bit more rational. These things are incredibly rare.

And I promised that the next time I fly, I'm not going to sit around whinging about slow lounge wi-fi or the quality of the food on board. As long as I get from A to B safely.

 

[TomVexille]

In Kuala Lumpur right now. Arrived from Kathmandu on MAS last night, along with my travel group.
Mood here is sombre and sad. Everyone here already knows deep down that it will be a tragic outcome.

I'm flying MAS to Singapore tomorrow to connect with QF back home. It's completely and utterly irrational I know but I am going to be feeling a bit weird stepping on board

Thoughts and peace to those affected

I know the feeling. I flew Asiana just a couple days after their accident at SFO last year. That being said, my flights were entirely non-eventful.

 

[Flying mermaid]

So terrible sad - I was just thinking yesterday that it seems to have been awhile since there was a really bad accident with a major carrier. Thoughts and prayers for all involved. Dr FM is flying with Malaysian in April and I have just told her that this is probably the safest time to fly as they will be checking all planes very carefully after an incident....

 

[Grooba]

Official press release from MAS

Sepang, 8 March 2014: Malaysia Airlines is still unable to establish any contact or determine the whereabouts of flight MH370. Earlier today, Subang ATC had lost contact with the aircraft at 2.40am. The last known position of MH370 before it disappeared off the radar was 065515 North (longitude) and 1033443 East (latitude).
We are still trying to locate the current location of the flight based on the last known position of the aircraft. We are working with the International search and rescue teams in trying to locate the aircraft. So far, we have not received any emergency signals or distress messages from MH370. We are working with authorities and assure that all sources are deployed to assist with the search and rescue mission.
The passenger manifest will not be released until all families of the passengers have been informed. The flight was carrying a total number of 239 passengers and crew – comprising 227 passengers (including 2 infants) and 12 crew members.
We are deploying our “Go Team” to Beijing which will depart Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 4.30pm with a team of caregivers and volunteers to assist the family members of the passengers.
The passengers are of 14 different nationalities. All crew on-board are Malaysians.
Please take note that the earlier statement did not include the number of Indian nationals. This was due to confusion between the country code of Indonesia and India.
The below table shows the latest number of passengers and their nationalities:-

Nationality

[TD="width: 192"]Total[/TD]

[TD="width: 173"]China/Taiwan[/TD]
[TD="width: 192"]154 including infant[/TD]

[TD="width: 173"]Malaysia[/TD]
[TD="width: 192"]38[/TD]

[TD="width: 173"]India[/TD]
[TD="width: 192"]5[/TD]

[TD="width: 173"]Indonesia[/TD]
[TD="width: 192"]7[/TD]

[TD="width: 173"]Australia[/TD]
[TD="width: 192"]6[/TD]

[TD="width: 173"]France[/TD]
[TD="width: 192"]4[/TD]

[TD="width: 173"]USA[/TD]
[TD="width: 192"]3 including infant[/TD]

[TD="width: 173"]New Zealand[/TD]
[TD="width: 192"]2[/TD]

[TD="width: 173"]Ukraine[/TD]
[TD="width: 192"]2[/TD]

[TD="width: 173"]Canada[/TD]
[TD="width: 192"]2[/TD]

[TD="width: 173"]Russian[/TD]
[TD="width: 192"]1[/TD]

[TD="width: 173"]Italy[/TD]
[TD="width: 192"]1[/TD]

[TD="width: 173"]Netherlands[/TD]
[TD="width: 192"]1[/TD]

[TD="width: 173"]Austrian[/TD]
[TD="width: 192"]1[/TD]

Our focus now is to work with the emergency responders and authorities and mobilize our full support.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members.
The public may contact +603 7884 1234.
For media queries, kindly contact +603 8777 5698/ +603 8787 1276.
The airline will provide regular updates on the situation. There are many unvalidated reports out in the media and Malaysia Airlines strongly urges the media and the public at large to only report from official statements from Malaysia Airlines and the Government of Malaysia.

MH370 Flight Incident | Malaysia Airlines

 

[browski]

Speculation on pprune that this incident might be co-related.
China knife attack at Kunming Train Station leaves dozens dead and at least 130 injured | News.com.au

 

[markis10]

There seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding the facts re the aircraft and the SAR response, if media reports are correct it's been twelve or so hours before significant SAR action started, and MH have finally acknowledged that it was not two hours into the flight when contact was lost apparently.