Although the Malaysia Airlines has denied reports of a beacon, the Malaysian navy has said publicly they have tracked the wreckage of the missing Malaysia Flight MH370, and has dispatched a plane, two helicopters and four vessels i addition to the Philippines three navy patrol boats and one surveillance plane. Chinese ships and aircraft are on standby with eight ships belonging to the Nanhai Rescue Bureau and the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration, and a supporting air fleet. Boeing expressed their concern and are sending a team to assist the investigation.
Meanwhile, in spite of the airline telling the public the whereabouts are unknown, families are being told to take their valid passports to KLIA airport before 6 pm for MAS travel arrangements to the crash site.
If the plane is down (and even if it is magic thinking, we are still hoping it landed safely somewhere), search and rescue is still within the “24-hour golden window” in which it is more likely to find survivors. Eighty% of the family members have been contacted by Malaysia Airlines, according to Malaysia Airlines at the conference at Sama Sama Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, March 8, 2014.
The plane that is missing is registration number 9M-MRO. In September 2012, the plane was on the ground and suffered an airfield incursion when it collided with a China Eastern Airlines’ Airbus.