Malaysian plane yet to be found

A Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew went missing off the Vietnamese coast on Saturday as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and was presumed to have crashed. There were no reports of bad weather and no sign why the Boeing 777-200ER, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent engines, would have vanished from radar screens about an hour after take-off. By nightfall in the region, there were no signs of the plane or any wreckage, some 17 hours after it went missing. A large number of planes and ships from several countries were scouring the area where the plane last made contact, about halfway between Malaysia and the southern tip of Vietnam. "The search and rescue operations will continue as long as necessary," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. He said 15 air force aircraft, six navy ships and three coast guard vessels had been pressed into service by Malaysia. Vietnam on Saturday dispatched two navy boats from Phu Quoc island and sent two jets and one helicopter from Ho Chi Minh City to search for the missing airliner. It was readying a further seven planes and nine boats to join the search effort. China, and the Philippines have also sent ships to the region to help. The United States, the Philippines, and Singapore also dispatched military planes to help in the search. China has also put other ships and aircraft on standby, said Transport Minister Yang Chuantang, according to a news agency.