Malaysia Airlines today said its Boeing aircraft that disappeared over the South China Sea with 239 people on board suffered a broken wing tip in 2012 but was fully repaired and cleared to fly.
The plane was involved in a minor collision with another aircraft that led to the broken wing in 2012, Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said.
Boeing 777-200ER that disappeared over the South China Sea yesterday had a broken wing tip that was fully repaired and cleared to fly, Yahya said.
"A portion of the wing tip, approximately a metre, was torn. It has been repaired by Boeing and we also got the clearance from them.
"The repair was approved by relevant authorities," he said.
Mystery continued second today over what happened to flight MH370, which vanished early yesterday en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The flight was also carrying five Indians and one Indian-origin Canadian, and 12 crew members.
Massive multinational search mission failed to locate the jet, even as investigators feared the worst and did not rule out the possibility of a terror link.
