Passenger Manifest of Missing Malaysia Air Flight Called Into Question

Since news broke last night that a Malaysia Airlines aircraft had been missing for five hours, the airline has provided five updates about progress.

Earlier this morning, the airline provided an accounting of passengers by nationality. The flight was carrying a total number of 239 passengers and crew, made up of comprising 227 passengers and twelve crew members. All of the crew members were Malaysian.

Following the release, officials in Italy and Austria denied that two of the passengers were on the flight, according to CNN.

For instance, after the airline released a manifest, Austria denied that one of its citizens was onboard the flight as the list stated. The Austrian citizen was safe and sound, and his passport had been stolen two years ago, Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Weiss told CNN.

Similarly, Italy’s foreign ministry confirmed that no Italians were onboard MH370, even though an Italian was listed on the manifest. Malaysian officials said they were aware of reports that the Italian’s passport was also stolen, but had not confirmed it.

The CNN story quotes a U.S. intelligence official who noted that authorities were tracking the possibility of a terrorism link. It is not unusual for authorities to look at this and all other angles following an accident like this.

Update: “Authorities Confirm Two Malaysia Air Passengers Were Using Stolen Passports”

Malaysian has also provided a full passenger manifest, which is embedded below:

Download (PDF, 313KB)