BEIJING, March 11. /ITAR-TASS/. Participants of the missing Boeing 777-200 search operation intend to examine a part of the terrain, says a statement by the Malaysian airlines, the owner of the jet.

“The search and rescue crews have expanded the search area beyond the flight path and started to examine a part of the terrain near the Strait of Malacca,” the document says.

It adds that Malaysian authorities are currently considering the version saying the aircrew attempted to turn the plane and return to Kuala Lumpur.

The communication with Boeing 777-200 was lost when nearly two hours passed from the departure from Malaysian capital on Friday. The plane on its way to Beijing was supposed to be above the South China Sea in 120 nautical miles from Kota Bharu (Malaysia) in this moment.

According to preliminary data, it had 154 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, 5 Indians, 7 Indonesians, 7 Australians, 4 Americans, 3 French, 2 citizens of New Zealand, Canada and Ukraine, and one Russian and one Dutch on board.

Search of the missing plane is currently underway. Air and naval forces of Malaysia, China, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and the USA are involved in the search operation.