Malaysian plane crashed into the sea: Vietnam media

Beijing, March 9: The Malaysian plane carrying 239 passengers, which had been reported as missing since Friday night, crashed into the sea, confirmed

media. The B777-200 aircraft departed Kuala Lumpur at 00:41 a.m. Saturday. It was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m.

Vietnam media said that the plane crashed into the sea at a location 153 miles South of Phu Quoc island. The plane had 239 passengers on board, from China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia, US etc.

Malaysia Airlines, on Saturday morning, had said it was working with the authorities who have dispatched search and rescue team to locate the plane. According to the airline, the flight had lost contact with Malaysian air traffic controllers at 2.40am, just over two hours into the flight.

The plane disappeared from radar while it was in Vietnamese sky

China's CCTV said 160 Chinese nationals were onboard the flight, according to microblogging website Weibo, said a Reuters report.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported that the plane disappeared from radar while it was in Vietnamese sky.

Chinese media reported that so far the plane hasn't crached into any water body in the country. Last summer, an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 crash landed in San Francisco, killing three passengers.

The aircraft came into service in 2002. Malaysia has 15 Boeing 777 - 200 series. Vice President operations control Fuad sharuji said the airlines had got in touch with five of its flights in air to see if they had heard from the missing plane but they had got no response. Several ATC of nearby countries had also been contacted by the airline, Fuad said. The aircraft had a Code share with China southern airline. The plane had entered Vietnamese airspace when it lost control.

Oneindia News

(With PTI inputs)