Oil slicks spotted, possibly from missing Malaysian jet
Posted March 8, 2014 12:35 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (NEWS1130) – Search and rescue planes have spotted two large oil slicks that investigators suspect are from that Malaysian jetliner that went missing early yesterday.
The slicks were spotted off the southern tip of Vietnam and this is the first sign the plane has crashed.
Malaysian Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein says they are doing everything they can to find it. “We have activated our military, our air force, and our navy. I have had discussions with them this morning. Our national security council, with our coast guard, is also on it.”
The jetliner disappeared from radar screens less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, with no distress call.
Two Canadians are among the 239 people on board the flight to Beijing.
The employer of one of the two Canadians says the pair were married and living in Beijing with their children.
The flight manifest identifies the Canadians as 37-year-old Xiaomo Bai and 42-year-old Muktesh Mukherjee.
Xcoal Energy & Resources CEO Ernie Thrasher says Mukherjee worked in the Pennsylvania-based company’s Beijing office and had two children with Bai.
A Foreign Affairs spokeswoman says they are working with local authorities to gather more information on the situation, and are in the process of contacting next of kin.
Prime Minister Harper has tweeted his condolences to those affected by disappearance of the plane.
The State Department confirms that three Americans were on board the flight. Spokeswoman Jen Psaki says in a statement that officials from the U.S. Embassies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Beijing are in contact with families of the passengers. The department says it’s working to determine if other U.S. citizens may have been on the flight.
The American navy is sending a warship to help look for a missing airliner in waters off southern Vietnam.
ABC Aviation Consultant Colonel Stephen Ganyard says the disappearance is very strange. “In this case, also because it’s so unusual for an airplane to just disappear like this, it’s almost inexplicable. They’ll probably broaden their range of investigation to look at terrorism.”
Foreign ministry officials in Rome and Vienna confirm that names of two nationals listed on the manifest of the missing jet match passports reported stolen in Thailand.
Italy’s Foreign Ministry says an Italian man whose name was listed as being aboard is travelling in Thailand and was not aboard the plane.
A foreign ministry functionary, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed Italian reports that Luigi Maraldi had reported his passport stolen last August.
Italian news agency ANSA says Maraldi called home after hearing reports that an Italian with his name was aboard the plane.
Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Weiss confirmed that a name listed on the manifest matches an Austrian passport reported stolen two years ago in Thailand. Weiss would not confirm the identity.
