Flight MH370 Lost: What Could Have Happened To 239 Aboard Malaysia Airlines?

Malaysia Airlines announced this morning that a search and rescue team was activated due to the fact that it had lost contact with one of its flights. Flight MH370 was carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. This flight took off at 12:41 a.m and almost two hours later air traffic control lost contact with the plane. There has been no sign of the plane ever since.

The families of the 227 passengers and 12 crew members have been contacted. The airline said “Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members.” Boeing 777s have had two previous crashes; one last July when an Asiana plane crash landed at San Francisco International Airport and one in January 2008 when a British Airways 777 had engine failure and the problem ended up being icing in the fuel system.

There were two possible oil slicks seen by a Vietnamese search plane but no confirmation this had to do with the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight. Malaysian Prime Minister said "We are looking at all possibilities, but it is too early to make any conclusive remarks" when asked if terrorism could be suspected as a reason for the disappearance. NBC news spoke to a senior US official and this what he said "We are aware of the reporting on the two stolen passports. We have not determined a nexus to terrorism yet, although it's still very early, and that's by no means definitive."

Malaysia and Vietnam have sent planes and naval vessels to search for the missing plane. The U.S is also sending a missile destroyer. Friends and families that were waiting for the passengers were told to go to a nearby hotel where they would receive support. David Learmont, an aviation expert said “passenger planes today "are incredibly reliable and you do not get some sudden structural failure in flight - it just doesn't happen." Stay tuned to find out about developments on this unfortunate and tragic event. Let’s just hope this will be resolved as soon as possible.