Early Friday night (March 7th), news broke around the world of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 as it disappeared from various radar scanners. MH370 had lost contact one hour after its takeoff from Kuala Lumpur enroute to Beijing. After the word spread about MH370 losing contact from radar and communications, Vietnamese air force planes were dispatched and found various oil sightings located near the area where the plane lost contact; however, there is not any confirmation that the oil sightings are linked with the disappearing plane.

On Saturday, March 8th, Malaysia Airlines released the passenger manifest of the 239 people (passengers and crew) on board MH370. Among the passengers listed on the manifest are three Americans, including Philip Wood. According to Yahoo News, Wood was a long-time IBM executive who raised his family in Texas prior to moving to East Asia. Craig Dahl, who retired from IBM last year and worked closely with Wood, offered the following statement:

“Since I found out, I feel like somebody punched me in the stomach. IBM was offering people the opportunity to take jobs overseas if they kind of wanted to experience the world. That’s the kind of spirit that Philip had, an adventuresome person who wouldn’t mind experiencing another culture and getting immersed in it.”

Dahl also stated “I can imagine being in his place. That’s what really strikes hard with me, knowing that a friend of mine went through that. I know that the odds are not in his favor but miracles do occur, so maybe there will be something that will be found.”

Another person close to Wood who commented on his disappearance was his ex-wife, Elaine Wood, who stated in a Facebook post (shown below) that despite their differences and past, Wood is still family to her and their children. She also would like privacy during this time.

Various tweets praying for and concerning Philip Wood have spread around Twitter:

Please pray for the family of Philip Wood who was on the Malaysian flight that was lost. He was an OC alum and college roommate of mine.

— Jeff Dimick (@dimick_jeff) March 9, 2014

Condolences to @IBMStorage family. http://t.co/X5FcANmRCv And of course to the family and friends of Phillip Wood.

— David Nicholson (@daven007) March 8, 2014

1985 OC grad Philip Wood worked in Malaysia and was on lost flight. Please pray for his family. Initial details: http://t.co/VlhiJNsLq8

— Oklahoma Christian U (@okchristian) March 9, 2014

Image via Wikimedia Commons