WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that a team of investigators travelled to Asia late on Saturday to help in the missing Malaysia Airlines jet probe.

The team will be "ready to assist with the investigation of the March 8 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 event", the NTSB said in a brief statement.

"Because of the lengthy travel time from the United States, the NTSB has sent a team of investigators, accompanied by technical advisers from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration, to the area so they will be positioned to offer US assistance," the statement read.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished from the radar early on Saturday somewhere between Malaysia's east coast and southern Vietnam after departing Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 239 people aboard.

"Once the location of the airplane is determined, International Civil Aviation Organization protocols will determine which country will lead the investigation," the US statement read.

The statement added that the country "that leads the investigation will release all information about it".