Family waits for news on MH370
After a 510-day wait, Danica Weeks faces another 24 hours before she can be sure if this is the MH370 breakthrough.
Her husband, New Zealander Paul Weeks, was one of 239 people on the plane when it vanished during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014.
Yesterday, wreckage was found on Reunion Island, off the east coast of Africa, raising the possibility it could be from the doomed plane. Malaysia has sent a team to verify the find while Australian investigators study photos sent from French officials. By 10am yesterday investigators made the announcement there was nearcertainty it was from a Boeing 777, the same make of plane as MH370.
Weeks, who lives in Perth with her sons, Lincoln and Jack, learned of the possible development through media reports and reporters on her doorstep at 6am.
‘‘I’ve called the Australian authorities and, look, I’m just not ready to comment on anything yet, it’s just too early to call. Until we know; there’s been so many red herrings, the pings, the oil [slick], the debris on the west coast, [there’s] just been so many that I’m not willing to speak about it until we know for sure that it’s actually from the plane.
‘‘We are good, me and the boys are good, just day-by-day that’s how we take it, that’s how we’ve got through for the last 510 days.’’
Weeks said she had been in contact with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. ‘‘They’re hoping, fingers crossed, they think it’ll be 24 hours to confirm or deny.’’
She said the discovery, if it was linked to the fatal flight, would be ‘‘a double-edged sword’’.
‘‘On one side you still have minute hope they may be coming home which you hold onto with no evidence.
‘‘On the other side, if it’s a piece of a plane we might be able to solve the mystery and bring him home and do what’s right for him.’’
Weeks said that, if it was confirmed to be part of the plane, investigators would need to find the rest to solve the mystery.
Another New Zealander, Ximin Wang, 50, of Auckland, was also on the aircraft when it disappeared.
Wang’s nephew, Ned Wang, said neither he nor his family wanted to talk publicly about MH370. They were trying to move on from the incident, he said.
Sara Weeks, Paul Weeks’ sister, said she felt ‘‘sick’’ when she learned of the news at her Christchurch home yesterday morning.
Her emotions quickly became mixed, knowing the wreckage could hold the key to discovering what led to her brother’s death, but realising it could be another tumultuous period for the family.
‘‘In most respects [I’m hopeful], at least if it’s confirmed as a piece of the plane, then we can go on to the next stage which is still pretty similar to where we were before; what happened? Where’s the rest of the plane? And where’s my brother?
‘‘There’s not a day I don’t think about, it, [it’s] really difficult, hardest thing I’ve ever had to live through.’’