WASHINGTON, Mar 9: The US has dispatched a team of experts to Asia to help authorities investigate the case of a missing Malaysian Airlines plane that is presumed to have crashed with 239 people on board, including five Indians.
While the team among others includes officials from the National Transportation Safety Board, Boeing, the US Navy has dispatched a guided-missile destroyer to the southern coast of Vietnam to aid in the search efforts of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
There were 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board when the plane en route to Beijing went missing.
“Once the location of the airplane is determined, International Civil Aviation Organization protocols will determine which country will lead the investigation,” the National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement.
“Because of the lengthy travel time from the United States, the NTSB has sent a team of investigators, accompanied by technical advisers from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration, to the area so they will be positioned to offer US assistance,” the statement said, adding that the team departed from the US last night.
In a statement, Boeing said it will join the US National Transportation Safety Board team as a technical advisor.
“The team is now en route to the area so they will be positioned to offer assistance,” it said.
The Boeing 777-200 Flight MH370 with passengers from 14 different countries disappeared on Friday night.
Vietnamese air force planes spotted two large oil slicks off the southern tip of Vietnam that authorities suspect are from the missing plane. (AGENCIES)
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