Update | Search for Malaysia Airlines flight widens as authorities defend handling of crisis

Malaysian authorities tonight said they were searching two vast areas of ocean for a missing Malaysian Airlines flight with 239 people on board, as the acting transport minister admitted: "We don't know where the aircraft is".

After a confusing day of speculation as to the flight path of the aircraft before it vanished from radar screens, Hishammuddin Hussein confirmed that searches were underway in both the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea.

He said the operation was covering a total of 27,000 square nautical kilometres, involving 42 ships and 39 aircraft from a total of 12 countries.

"My heart reaches out to  the families of the passengers," Hishammuddin said at a press conference. "We will not spare any effort to find the missing plane."

During a fiery press conference he rebuffed reporters' accusations that the search had been chaotic and that the government had no handle on the situation, despite mixed messages over the plane's whereabouts.

“We have been very transparent to the public and the media...there’s no confusion,” Hishammuddin said.