Desperate search for missing Boeing 777 with 239 passengers on board

A major search and rescue operation is today underway after a Malaysian Airlines plane carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew disappeared off the coast of Vietnam, after losing contact with air traffic controllers.

The Boeing 777 took off from Kuala Lumpur at 12.21am (4.21pm GMT) bound for Beijing, where it was expected to land at 6.30am (10.30pm GMT).

But after reaching 35,000ft and 120 nautical miles off the coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu the plane vanished, prompting fears the aircraft 'could have crashed'.

Aviation expert Chris Yates said the plane would not be carrying enough fuel to still be in the air and would 'definitely have crashed'.

He told Sky News: 'Frankly the plane would not have been carrying enough fuel to stay aloft much longer than an hour after it was due to arrive in Beijing.

'We simply don't know the circumstances behind what caused that crash at the moment.

'There will be two areas for the investigation: the maintenance of the aircraft and also possible terrorism.'

Less than one hour after Flight MH370 left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing, the plane disappeared from radar. 

Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said there was no indication that the pilots sent a distress signal. The fact that there was apparently no call for help suggests that whatever happened to the flight occurred quickly. 

The Malaysian Transport Minister said 14 hours into the search and rescue missions, that no trace of a crash site in the sea has been found, after reports the plane had crashed off the coast of southern Vietnam.