According to a preliminary report issued by the Malaysian government. The plane was a Boeing 777. It carried 227 passengers and 12 crew members. It was piloted by Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah and was co-piloted by Fariq Abdul Hamid. There were no technical issues detected before the plane took off.

MH370 was scheduled to take off at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport 5 hours and 45 minutes later.

After takeoff, the flight was going smoothly. The pilots keep contact with air traffic control throughout.