Malaysia Airlines says last contact with missing plane over S China Sea

KUALA LUMPUR - A missing Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew last had contact with air traffic controllers 120 nautical miles off the east coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu, the airline said on Saturday.

Malaysian and Vietnamese authorities were working jointly on search operations in the area and the airline could not yet confirm the plane had crashed, Malaysia Airlines chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said in a statement read to a news conference.

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 Beijing at 6.30 a.m. (2230 GMT) the same day.

No signal picked up from missing Malaysia Airlines plane: Vietnam official

HANOI - No signal had been picked up from a Malaysia Airlines Boeing B777-200 aircraft flight carrying 239 passengers and crew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, a Vietnamese rescue official said on Saturday.

"We have been seeking but no signal from the plane yet,"Pham Hien, director of a Vietnam maritime search and rescue coordination centre in Vung Tau, told Reuters by telephone.

Vietnamese and Chinese media had reported that a signal from the plane had been picked up. The reports did not identify what kind of signal.

"The information on local media about the signal near the Cape Ca Mau was inaccurate," Pham said.

How to reach Malaysia Airlines:

Beijing: 010-65052681

Shanghai: 021-23293999

Guangzhou: 020-83358868

Xiamen: 0592-2106088

Kunming: 0871-67085770

The public may contact +603 7884 1234. For media queries, kindly contact +603 8777 5698/ +603 8787 1276.