A member of the Japanese Coast Guard looks out the window of an aircraft customized for search and rescue operations during a search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 over the waters of the South China Sea on Mar. 15. 
Reuters

The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has involved many twists and turns since it vanished with 239 people on board during an overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8.

Click to enlarge image.

What began as a search-and-rescue operation in the waters between Malaysia and Vietnam has expanded into a multinational hunt involving more than 26 countries and encompassing 2.24 million square nautical miles.

The Wall Street Journal’s Southeast Asia Bureau Chief Patrick McDowell, reporter Newley Purnell and aviation expert Harro Ranter will discuss the disappearance of Flight 370 and take readers’ questions during a Google Hangout on Friday, March 21 at 7 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. (7 p.m. HKT and 11 a.m. GMT)

Send us your questions via Twitter using#MH370Chat, or leave them in the comments section of this blog post.

More on the Hangout guests:

Patrick McDowell is WSJ’s Southeast Asia bureau chief based in Jakarta. He has been directing a team of reporters in Kuala Lumpur and elsewhere in the region as a desperate search has been mounted for the aircraft and as Malaysian and other authorities have investigated what brought about its bizarre disappearance. Follow him on Twitter @pmcdowellsea

Newley Purnell is a tech reporter based in Singapore who has been closely reporting on the missing place since news first broke of its disappearance. He is currently covering the fast-moving story from the ground in Kuala Lumpur. Follow him on Twitter @newley

Harro Ranter is president of the Aviation Safety Network, a database that tracks plane accidents. He is based in the Netherlands and has extensive knowledgeof aviation safety issues. Follow him on Twitter @harro or @AviationSafety

A family member of a missing relative from China who was on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 broke down as she spoke to the media at Kuala Lumpur International Airport Wednesday.
Azhar Rahim/European Pressphoto Agency
Screens showing flight information and a 'Pray for MH370'" sign, left, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Wednesday.
Edgar Su/Reuters
Artwork conveys well-wishes for the passengers and crew of the missing plane at a viewing gallery in Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Wednesday.
Edgar Su/Reuters
Women wrote on the 'wall of hope' for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 18.
Ahmad Yusni/European Pressphoto Agency
A relative of a passenger waits for a news briefing by Malaysia Airlines officials at a hotel in Beijing on March 18.
Andy Wong/Associated Press
A message of support on the 'wall of hope' at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Ahmad Yusni/European Pressphoto Agency
A relative of a missing passenger answered questions from the media at the Lido Hotel in Beijing on March 18.
Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
People holding balloons pose next to a message reading 'Pray for MH370' during an event held for passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, in Kuala Lumpur, on March 17.
Lai Seng Sin/Associated Press
Students watched artists finish a school-ground painting inspired by the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 in the Philippine city of Makati on March 17.
Romeo Ranoco/Reuters
Indian Navy ship INS Kesari, involved in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, arrived at India's Port Blair naval base on March 17.
Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
A woman with her face painted stood in front of the "Wall of Hope" at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia on March 17.
Joshua Paul/Associated Press
Chinese police inspected everyone entering the Metro Park Lido Hotel, where relatives of passengers gathered on Monday, March 17, in Beijing.
Goh Chai Hin/Agence France Presse/Getty Images
Sailors inspected the flight deck of the USS Kidd, employed to search the Indian Ocean for missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, on Sunday, March 16.
U.S. Navy
Relatives of passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 chatted after a meeting with the airline's representatives at the Lido Hotel in Beijing on March 16. On Saturday, March 15, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said "deliberate action" caused the disappearance of the plane.
Jason Lee/Reuters
Visitors wrote messages on a banner for passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 16.
Mohd Rasfan/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
A family member of a Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 passenger spoke on the phone at the Lido Hotel in Beijing on March 16.
Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
A Malaysian army paratrooper stood guard between banners with messages for passengers of the missing flight in the departure hall of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 16.
Edgar Su/Reuters
A passenger's relative posed a question to Malaysia Airlines representatives at the Lido Hotel in Beijing on March 16.
Jason Lee/Reuters
A Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency pilot studied a map onboard a Japanese aircraft customized for search and rescue operations, as they looked for the missing plane in the South China Sea on March 15.
Edgar Su/Reuters
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak at Saturday's news conference. The last communication from a Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared a week ago came from one of two possible corridors spanning a wide region that stretches from Kazakhstan in north Asia to the southern Indian Ocean, Razak said.
Manan Vatsyayana/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
A Malaysia Airlines employee writes a message expressing prayers and well wishes for passengers aboard missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on March 14.
Manan Vatsyayana/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Malaysian Muslims offer Friday prayers during a special prayer session for passengers of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport mosque in Sepang on March 14.
Manan Vatsyayana/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
College students light candles to pray for the passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, at Yangzhou University in China's Jiangsu Province on March 13.
Meng Delong/Xinhua/ZUMAPRESS.com
The Royal Malaysian Navy corvette KD Terengannu and a U.S. Navy MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter from the U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney conducted a coordinated search in the Gulf of Thailand on Wednesday, March 12.
Reuters
Vietnamese Air Force Col. Pham Minh Tuan uses binoculars to search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in the Gulf of Thailand.
Associated Press
Malaysia's minister of transport, Hishamuddin Hussein, took questions from the media during a news conference on Thursday, March 13.
Wong Maye-E/Associated Press
Sgt. Zulhelmi Hassan, left, and Sgt. Zul Fahmy, right, of the Malaysian Air Force looked for debris on March 13.
Rahman Roslan/Getty Images
A Vietnamese military official looked at a map during search operations off Vietnam's coast on March 13.
Luong Thai Linh/EPA
Malaysian and Chinese journalists joined a mission on a Vietnam Air Force AN-26 aircraft, off Con Dao island on Thursday, March 13.
Kham/Reuters
Indonesian Air Force crewmen prayed before a search operation for the missing plane at Suwondo Air Base in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, on March 12.
Binsar Bakkara/Associated Press
A relative of a Flight 370 passenger arrived at the Kuala Lumpur hotel where the airline is hosting family members.
Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images
Members of a Chinese emergency-response team retrieved a floating object at a possible crash site, March 11.
Zhao Yingquan/Xinhua/ZUMAPRESS.com
Heavily armed Philippine antiterrorist police patrolled Manila's International Airport terminal, March 11.
Jay Directo/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Vietnamese military personnel on Phu Quoc island prepared to search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet off Vietnam's southern coast, Monday, March 10.
Le Quang Nhatle/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
A relative of a passenger on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cried out at a local hotel where families gathered Sunday, March 9, in Beijing.
Feng Li/Getty Images
A staff member with Malaysia Airlines handed out visa application forms on March 9 near Beijing to relatives of missing passengers to help them go to Malaysia.
Jiang Kehong/Xinhua/Zuma Press