Malaysia Airlines loses contact with Boeing 777-200; fate of passengers and crew unknown

In strange (and currently on-going) international news, Malaysian Airlines has lost a Boeing 777 that was en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing, China. The nearly 800,000 pound plane was carrying 239 people, and while it may sound almost impossible with modern radar and technology to lose contact with a plane of its size, it's true:

From a CBS News report: 

"The airline, speaking several hours after the plane had been due to land in the Chinese capital, said it was still too early so say whether the aircraft had crashed."

The report went on to say that the plane may have landed in Nanming in the south of China, due to loss of contact with air traffic controllers that took place while cruising at 10,700 meters over the South China Sea, a mere couple of hours after it took off.

Fate Unknown

All next of kin have been notified of the strange occurrence, and are understandably fraught with confusion and grief, but as it stands at the time of this post, Malaysian and Vietnamese authorities are working jointly to locate the missing aircraft, but have little no to evidence of its fate.

The airline's official spokesman has said that the "focus of the airline is to work with the emergency responders and authorities and mobilize its full support."

Is anyone to blame?

A top executive at the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has reported that the plane didn't make a check as it was flying between Malaysia and Ho Chi Minh City, stating that no code appeared in its system. A point of interest that is corroborated by the Chinese Aviation Administration is that the agency has verified the loss of contact took place while the plane was over Malaysia.

The pilot of the plane was by Malaysian Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, who has logged a total of 18,365 flying hours, and has been employed by Malaysia Airlines since 1981. 

If it is found that the plane has crashed, it would be the second crash involving a Boeing 777 in less than a year's time. In July of last year, an Asiana Airlines 777 crash landed in San Francisco, killing three people and injuring dozens more passengers. In spite of that, the 777 is a very safe plane that celebrated a 19-year fatality-free history up until that point.