A mysterious piece of plane debris washed up on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion on Wednesday, has prompted international investigators to examine whether it could be part of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
The discovery has raised hopes it could be from the Boeing 777 plane, which diverted from its Kuala Lumpur-to-Beijing route shortly after takeoff on March 8 last year.
The six-foot long piece of wreckage, which appeared to be part of a wing, was found by people cleaning up a beach.
Malaysia’s deputy Transport minister has been quoted saying it’s almost certain that the plane debris found on Reunion Island, in the Indian Ocean, is from a Boeing 777.
Investigators are looking into whether the piece of airplane debris is part of MH370, the Malaysia Airlines jet that mysteriously vanished in March, 2014.
Meanwhile the families and friends of those lost on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 now face an agonising wait for confirmation on the source of the debris that washed up on the Indian Ocean island of La Reunion.
Officials say the photographs of the wreckage are not inconsistent with a Boeing 777 and said it was the most promising lead yet.
Authorities are treating the find as a ”very significant development” and investigations are continuing.
The large chunk of debris washed up on the east coast shoreline at Saint Andre on the island, and if it is determined to be from MH370 it will help solve one of the biggest aviation mysteries of all time.
MH370, which disappeared almost 17 months ago, is the only unaccounted-for 777 in the world. Malaysia has sent a team to Réunion to examine the debris of a flaperon, a two metre-long moveable part on the trailing edge of the wing.
A mechanic from the Réunion-based airline Air Austral told journalists he had studied the debris with French military officials and concluded with 99.9% certainty that it originated from a Boeing 777. He said the debris was stamped with 657-BB, a number that could be used to identify a part and the plane to which it belonged.
