Hanoi: As the Pentagon on Saturday dispatched a naval destroyer and a surveillance plane to aid in the search for a Malaysia Airlines jet that has disappeared in waters off Vietnam, Hanoi said its search planes spotted oil slicks in the sea near where a Malaysia Airlines jet carrying 239 people mysteriously vanished on Saturday, in the first hint at the aircraft’s possible fate. The announcement came more than 18 hours after flight MH370 slipped off radar screens somewhere between Malaysia’s east coast and southern Vietnam, triggering an international search effort.
“Two of our aircraft sighted two oil slicks around 15 to 20 kilometres (10-12 miles) long, running parallel, around 500 metres apart from each other,” the Army’s deputy chief-of-staff, Vo Van Tuan, told state-run VTV. The vessel carries two helicopters which can be equipped for search and rescue, the Pentagon said.
Meanwhile, Boeing, the maker of the Boeing 777 flown by Malaysia Airlines that disappeared over the South China Sea, on Saturday said it was assembling a team of experts to provide technical assistance to investigators.
“Boeing is assembling a team to provide technical assistance to investigating authorities,” the Seattle-based company said in a brief statement on its website.
“Boeing offers its deepest concern to the families of those aboard missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370,” the statement added.
The Boeing 777 is considered to be one of the most popular and safest jets by aviation experts. The plane carried 227 passengers, including five Indians and an Indian-origin Canadian, and 12 crew members. Malaysian Airlines said the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing was piloted by a veteran.
Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a 53-year-old Malaysian, has 18,365 total flying hours and joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981, the airline website said. The first officer is Fariq Ab. Hamid too has 2,763 flying hours.
