Chronology of events leading to the disappearance of MH370

MARCH 8

12.41am: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 takes off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). The Boeing 777-200 was ferrying 239 people on board, including two infants and 12 crew members.

1.30am: MH370 signal suddenly disappears from Department of Civil Aviation radar. The aircraft did not enter airspace controlled by China and did not make contact with Chinese controllers. The flight was scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 6.40am.

10.15am: Report of flight MH370 making an emergency landing in Nanning, China, was confirmed to be false.

12pm: MAS group chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said the passengers of flight MH370 are of 14 different nationalities.

The passengers include 153 Chinese nationals, 38 Malaysians, 12 Indonesians, six Australians, three French, four Americans, two from Ukraine, New Zealand and Canada respectively and one each from Russia, Taiwan, Italy, Netherlands and Austria. The flight was a codeshare with China Southern Airlines.

12.30pm: MAS says the last point of contact with flight MH370 was approximately 120 nautical miles east of Kota Baru at the South China Sea.

1pm: China dispatches two maritime rescue ships to the South China Sea to help in search and rescue operations.

1.30pm: The official Vietnamese government website said the plane lost contact near Ca Mau province airspace as it was preparing to transfer to Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control. However, the transfer never took place.

3pm: The Malaysian Navy are in communication with their Vietnamese counterpart to verify reports of the sighting of the wreckage of flight MH370 near an island in southern side of the country.

MAS asks for two next of kin of each passenger to be at KLIA at 6pm on Saturday.

6pm: Vietnam, Singapore, Philippines and United States reported to have joined Malaysia in search and rescue operations.

9pm: Report says Vietnam's Department of Civil Aviation located two giant oil slicks off the southern coast, consistent with fuel left behind by crashed jetliner.

MARCH 9

1pm: Defence Minister and Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said Malaysia would be working with intelligence agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), on the possibility of terrorists involvement in the disappearance of the MH370 flight.

On the two impostors who boarded the flight using passports reported lost by an Italian and an Austrian, Hishammuddin said the authorities are carrying out investigations.

Air force chief Tan Sri Rodzali Daud said the investigation was now focusing on a recording of radar signals that showed there was a "possibility" the aircraft had turned back from its flight path.

Vietnamese navy ships which reached two oil slicks spotted earlier in the South China Sea, found no signs of wreckage.

Ahmad Jauhari said the plane damaged its wing tip when it was involved in a collision in 2012. The plane was repaired and certified fit and safe to fly.

Source: The Sun Daily