Aviation fans abuzz with ‘MH370’ Wild Coast find

A CHUNK of what could be part of the Malaysian airliner that disappeared in 2014 surfaced along the shores of the Wild Coast at the weekend.

The meter-long piece of flotsam, made of composite material with honeycomb inner boards and an aluminium frame, washed up on Mpame Beach near Hole-in-theWall at Coffee Bay.

Bull’s Inn fishing lodge owner Cameron Edwards said it was spotted by his in-laws, who were visiting from Bloemfontein, on Friday afternoon.

“They came back and told me they had spotted a piece of a wrecked boat floating on the sea and I became curious because I had not heard of a wrecked boat.

“On Saturday morning I walked to the beach to investigate, but to my surprise the wreckage had surfaced on the sand and it looked nothing like a boat really.”

Edwards said a boat was mostly made of fibreglass whereas the wreckage had other materials, besides the mussels, crabs and barnacles which had made the wreckage their home.

“I told my friend Patrick, who owns a plane, and sent him pics when he asked me to bring the piece to the Border Aviation Club,” he said.

Patrick Hill said they posted some of the pictures Edward had sent on Avcom, an international forum for all aviators.

There was a number of responses, including from crash investigating officer Aslam Khan, who has been investigating the wreckage of the Malaysian aircraft MH370.

Hill said this was a “very interesting” find considering it may be a lead on the missing aircraft since it went missing.

“Every part of an aircraft has a serial number and once they find the number on the turn buckle it will determine which aircraft the wreckage belongs to.

“The entire aviation community is abuzz and excited by this discovery. If it is a piece of the Malaysian craft, this would be the first time in my lifetime that something of such magnitude has been discovered on our shores,” he said. —