MH370 was missing for four hours before search operation began

The ill-fated Malaysian Airlines MH370 was missing for four hours before rescue efforts started, a new report has revealed.

The Vietnamese air traffic control questioned the whereabouts of the plane, which was to have entered their airspace, 17 minutes after the plane disappeared from radar on 8th March.

According to news.com.au, they told their counterparts in Kuala Lumpur that verbal contact had not been made with MH370.

Other air traffic controls in the region also reported no contact.

A table was released showing what happened in the four hours after MH370 went missing.

According to the report, it showed Kuala Lumpur air traffic control queried other countries about knowledge of the plane.

It then sent a request to another Malaysian Airlines plane in the region to make contact with MH370 on emergency frequencies, but there was no answer.

Then, four hours after it disappeared, at 5.30am, the Kuala Lumpur Coordination Centre was activated.

The five-page report, compiled for the International Civil Aviation Organisation, continues little information that is not already publicly known.

According to the report, it largely deals with the plane's early flight path and contains the audio of the cockpit and air traffic control communications shortly before it disappeared.