Imagine waiting for your family at the airport, only to realize that they might not ever show up? A Malaysian Jet that was carrying 239 people, including 4 Americans, disappeared. The plane lost contact with air traffic control and remained missing up until 8 hours later. You know what that means… SMH.. check out the details!
The Boeing 777-200 left Kuala Lampur at 12:41 a.m. local time and was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m. the same day – but the plane dropped off the radar screen while flying in Vietnamese airspace about two hours after takeoff.
“At the moment we have no idea where this aircraft is right now,” Malaysia Airlines vice president Fuad Sharuj told CNN. “We tried to call this aircraft through various means.”
People waiting for family and friends at Beijing’s airport wept with fear for the passengers.
“They want us to go to the hotel. It cannot be good!” cried one woman, referring to how airport authorities asked relatives and friends of passengers to gather at a hotel near the airport to wait for news.
The 239 passengers include 12 crew members and two infants and included people from 14 different countries — including three adults and one infant from the US.
“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,” Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said in a statement.
“Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their Search and Rescue team to locate the aircraft,” the airline said in a statement.
“It doesn’t sound very good,” retired American Airlines Capt. Jim Tilmon said on CNN, noting that the route is mostly over land, which means that there would be plenty of ways to contact the plane.
