快讯：马来西亚航空吉隆坡飞往北京航班失去联系

快讯：马来西亚航空称，北京时间2点40分MH370航班与塔台失去联系。该航班于凌晨0点41分从吉隆坡起飞，原定于早上6点30分在北京降落。机上共有227名乘客，包括2名儿童，以及12名机组人员。马航已经与搜救部门取得联络以锁定航班位置。

祈祷机上所有人员平安！

以下为英国每日邮报英文报道：

A major search has been launched for a Malaysian Airlines jet with 239 people on board after it lost contact flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Airline officials admitted they were gravely concerned for the safety of the aircraft.

It was not immediately known which nationalities were on board the jet which was flying on a popular route.

An unconfirmed report on a flight tracking website said the aircraft had plunged 200m and changed course shortly before all contact was lost.

The route would have taken flight MH370, a B777-200 aircraft, across the Malaysian mainland in a north easterly direction and then across the Gulf of Thailand.

Those on board included two infants and 12 crew members, Malaysian Airlines said in a statement, adding it was working with all authorities in the region and search and rescue teams had been mobilised.

The aircraft had been due to land in Beijing at 6.30am local time but at 7.54am the airline issued a statement saying it had not landed and was officially missing.

Aviation experts said that if the report of the aircraft suddenly plunging was correct it could be due to a number of factors.

These include a catastrophic engine failure, the pilots taking evasive action to avoid another aircraft, or an explosion.

The airline has not said whether the pilots were able to issue a distress call - but if they did not, experts said this could indicate a catastrophy that had occurred without warning.

Malaysian Airlines said it would issue updates as soon as more information became available.

The aircraft had enough fuel on board for a seven hour flight and and the airline said that given the time it has been missing it would have already run out of fuel.

Fearing the worst, the airline has begun contacting relatives of the passengers warning them that the flight has not arrived and they should prepare themselves for bad news.

The Boeing jet lost contact with Malaysian air traffic controllers a little over two hours into its flight.

Reports from China's Xinhua news agency said later that the aircraft was lost in air space controlled by

Vietnam and did not enter Chinese airspace or make any contact with Chinese controllers. Vietnam is heavily shrouded in forest and there were no immediate reports coming from that country of an aircraft crashing.Vietnamese authorites said they were investigating the aircraft's disappearance.

Malaysian Airlines said the passengers on board were of 13 nationalities.

'Our team is currently calling the next of kin of passengers and crew,' said the airline's chief executive, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, as the airline issued a statement saying its 'thoughts and prayers' were with all those on board as well as their families.

Unconfirmed reports said it was believed the missing aircraft was involved in a crash in August 2017 when it damaged the tail of a China Eastern Airlines plane at Shanghai Pudong Airport.

The reports said that in that incident the tip of the wing of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 broke off.

Crying relatives of Chinese passengers on board the plane wept at Beijing airport as it became clear the jet had probably crashed.

Retired American Airlines captain Jim Tilmon told CNN today (Sat) that 'it doesn't sound very good,' as the search continued for the missing jet.

'The route is mostly overland, which means there would be plenty of radars and radios to contact the plane. But if nothing has been heard...

'I've been trying to come up with every scenario that I could just to explain this away, but I haven't been very successful.'

Mr Tilmon said the jet was 'about as sophisticated as any commercial airplane could possibly be.'