The airline
said flight MH370 disappeared at 2:40 am local time (1840 GMT Friday),
about two hours after leaving Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It had
been due to arrive in Beijing at 6:30 am local time (2230 GMT Friday).
A statement posted on the official Vietnamese government website said the flight disappeared in Vietnamese airspace.
"The
plane lost contact in Ca Mau province airspace before it had entered
contact with Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control," it said.
The
plane was meant to transfer to Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control at
1722 GMT but never appeared, the statement said, citing a senior
Ministry of Defence official.
Vietnam's
Ministry of Defence has launched rescue efforts to find the plane,
working in coordination with Malaysian and Chinese officials, the
statement added.
The Boeing 777-200 was carrying 227 passengers, including two infants, from 13 different nationalities, and 12 crew members.
China's
state television said 158 of the passengers were Chinese. Some 160
Chinese had been due to be on the flight but two missed it, according to
Xinhua, quoting China's Civil Aviation Administration.
"We
deeply regret that we have lost all contacts with flight MH370 which
departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41 am earlier this morning bound for
Beijing," Malaysia Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Jauhari
Yahya said in a statement.
The statement said the Malaysian flag carrier was working with authorities, who had launched an effort to locate the aircraft.
"Our team is currently calling the next-of-kin of passengers and crew," Ahmad Jauhari said.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members."
The
airline's Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route passes over the South China Sea,
and remote parts of the Indochinese peninsula before entering southern
Chinese airspace.
A Malaysian
Airlines spokeswoman said she could not immediately provide further
details, but the airline said it would soon hold a press conference in
Kuala Lumpur.
"This news has made us all very worried," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Beijing.
"We hope every one of the passengers is safe. We are doing all we can to get more details."
- 'Contact lost over Vietnam airspace' -
A
report by China's Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese aviation
authorities saying the plane did not enter China's air traffic control
sphere.
A spokeswoman with a Thai agency that monitors the country's airspace told AFP the plane also did not cross over Thailand.
A
Beijing airport spokeswoman said the facility had activated an
emergency response system. Screens at the airport indicated the flight
was "delayed".
An accident
would be a huge blow for the carrier, which has bled money for years as
its struggles to fend off competition from rivals such as fast-growing
AirAsia.
It recorded its fourth
straight quarterly loss during the final three months of 2013 and warned
of a "challenging" year ahead due to intense competition.
The
carrier admitted in 2012 it was in "crisis", forcing it to implement a
cost-cutting campaign centred on slashing routes and other measures.
In 2011, it chalked up a record 2.5 billion ringgit ($767 million) loss.
In
July 2013, a Boeing 777-200 operated by South Korea's Asiana Airlines
skidded off the runway upon landing at San Francisco's international
airport after it clipped a seawall before touching down.
Three people died.
"We're closely monitoring
reports on Malaysia flight MH370. Our thoughts are with everyone on
board," the manufacturer said in a statement on its Twitter feed.
Boeing
has been beset by problems with its high-tech 787 Dreamliners put into
service two years ago, including a months-long global grounding over
battery problems last year.
The
information vacuum regarding the flight touched off a frenzy on social
media, which saw an outpouring of concern for passengers and unconfirmed
rumours that the plane had landed safely in southern China.
Malaysian Airlines has said those rumours were false, The Star newspaper reported.
A spokesman told the Sydney Morning Herald that Australian passengers were on board but could not confirm how many.
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has suffered few accidents in its history.
One of its jets crashed in 1977 in southern Malaysia, killing all 93 passengers and seven crew.
A
smaller Twin Otter aircraft, operated by its unit MASwings, crashed
upon landing in Malaysia's Sabah state on Borneo island last October,
killing a co-pilot and a passenger.
There were no immediate signs of passenger relatives descending in large numbers on Beijing's airport.
An AFP journalist saw one woman enter the arrivals zone at the airport and break down in tears. She was led away by police.
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