Plane Goes Missing Mid-Flight En Route To Beijing

A commercial aircraft with 239 people on it has gone missing mid-flight, officials said Friday. Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 departed Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 12:41 am local time Saturday and was supposed to land in Beijing at 6:30; however, air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft when it was in Vietnam airspace. The plane, a Boeing B777-200, was carrying 227 passengers of 13 different nationalities, including two infants, and 12 crew members. According to the airline's vice president of operations, the flight would have run out of fuel by now, and the airline has begun notifying the passengers' next-of-kin.

“We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts with flight MH370 ,” the statement read. “Focus of the airline is to work with the emergency responders and authorities and mobilize its full support. Our thoughts and prayers are with all affected passengers and crew and their family members.”

Speaking to CNN, a retired American Airlines captain said the outlook for the flight appears grim.

"It doesn't sound very good," Jim Tilmon told CNN. "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."

Boeing says it’s aware of the situation and is monitoring its progress. According to CCTV, 160 Chinese nationals are on board the flight.