The Malaysian authorities have asked for help in the search for the flight MH370 which carried 239 people including 12 crew members on board, Djoko said in a short message text.
"The Malaysian military chief has contacted us asking for help from the Indonesian government through the military chief, the naval chief of staff and the air force chief of staff to assist in the search efforts," he said.
The Indonesian military (TNI) has warmly responded to the request and will soon send its personnel to help in the search efforts, he said.
"The TNI personnel who will be involved in the search efforts will coordinate with the Malaysian authorities," he said.
The Boeing 777-200 aircraft which left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing at 12.21 a.m. lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control early Saturday morning. The plane is believed to have gone missing in the South China Sea.
Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said earlier the search for the missing plane will be expanded to the area where it last lost contact.
The Prime Minister said the Malaysian government has deployed a total of 15 planes from the Malaysian Air Force to search for the missing Boeing 777-200.
The aircraft include four Hercules C130 planes, a CN325 plane, four EC725 planes, a Beechcraft King Air plane, two bombardier planes and two Agusta helicopters.
Six ships owned by the Malaysian Navy and three ships owned by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (APMM) are also involved in the search efforts.
Reporting by Muhammad Arief Iskandar
(S012)
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
