U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday the U.S. has put "every resource" available to help in the search efforts for the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner.

Obama made his first public comments on the missing flight in an interview with the Dallas-based Fox-affiliated KDFW television station.

He offered his thoughts and prayers to the families of the crew and passengers on the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH-370 which went missing on March 8.

"We want to send out our thoughts and prayers to all of the families that have been affected, but particularly our American families, who I can only imagine what they're going through with all of the uncertainty that's taking place," Obama said.

Philip Wood, 50, of Keller, the U.S. state of Texas, is among the 239 people on board the missing flight.

During the interview, Obama said the U.S. has put "every resource that we have available at the disposal of the search process." He said the U.S. considers the search efforts for the missing plane "a top priority."

Speaking at the daily press briefing, the White House spokesman Jay Carney said the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are currently the primary interlocutors with the Malaysian government on the investigation of the mystery of the missing plane.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is also assisting in the investigation, he added.

At a news conference on Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said there has been contact between various investigative agencies in the U.S. and Malaysia. He vowed to make available " whatever resources that we have" in the investigation.

(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2014)