--- description: The U.S. is in close cooperation with Malaysian officials in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines 777, President Obama said Wednesday title: Barack Obama: Finding Flight 370 Is a Top Priority image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e25633607470eef/69868641cd804d86eacc9ced/h_51289575.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Malaysia Airlines Flight 370](/tag/malaysia-airlines-flight-370/) ## Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Obama: Finding Missing Plane a 'Top Priority'  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 19, 2014 10:43 PM CUT  A family member of missing relative on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 from China breaks down as she speaks to the media at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia March 19, 2014. A family member of missing relative on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 from China breaks down as she speaks to the media at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia March 19, 2014.Azhar Rahima—EPA  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 19, 2014 10:43 PM CUT President Barack Obama said Wednesday that [finding](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/19/obama-missing-plane%5Fn%5F4995637.html "undefined") missing Malaysian Airlines flight 370 is “a top priority.” “We have put every resource we have available at the disposal of the search process,” Obama told Dallas news station KDFW. “There’s been close cooperation with the Malaysian government,” Obama said. “Anybody who typically deals with anything related to our aviation system is available.” The comments were the president’s first public statements on the ongoing mystery surrounding the disappeared flight. “We want to send out our thoughts and prayers to all the families that have been affected but particularly our American families. I can only imagine what they’re going through,” Obama said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/31105/barack-obama-flight-370-top-priority/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/31105/barack-obama-flight-370-top-priority/"},"headline":"Obama: Finding Missing Plane a 'Top Priority'","datePublished":"2014-03-19T22:43:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:51:39.496Z","description":"The U.S. is in close cooperation with Malaysian officials in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines 777, President Obama said Wednesday","url":"https://time.com/31105/barack-obama-flight-370-top-priority/","keywords":["Malaysia Airlines Flight 370","Barack Obama","MH370"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e25633607470eef/69868641cd804d86eacc9ced/h_51289575.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e25633607470eef/69868641cd804d86eacc9ced/h_51289575.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Malaysian Airlines missing aircraft","caption":"Malaysian Airlines missing aircraft","creditText":"Azhar Rahima—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/malaysia-airlines-flight-370/","name":"Malaysia Airlines Flight 370"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/31105/barack-obama-flight-370-top-priority/","name":"Obama: Finding Missing Plane a 'Top Priority'"}}]}] ```