Wreckage ‘almost certainly’ from the lost plane MH370
EXPERTS were ‘almost certain’ last night that a part of a wing washed up on an Indian Ocean island is the first trace of missing flight MH370.
Almost 18 months after the Malaysia Airlines plane disappeared, a ‘flaperon’ from a jet wing and a battered suitcase have been found on the French island of Reunion.
Malaysia prime minister Najib Razak said the piece of wreckage – on the edge of the vast 46,000 square mile search area – is ‘very likely’ from a Boeing 777. Flight MH370 is the only unaccounted for Boeing 777 in the world after it went missing on March 8, 2014.
Others however urged caution with one French specialist suggesting it is from a much smaller plane.
After so many false alarms previously, families of the 239 on board when the plane disappeared were cautious, demanding the authorities this time are 100 per cent certain before saying anything publicly. On a visit to Malaysia, David Cameron offered assistance from naval experts to help in the search for the remains of MH370.
Australia has been leading the hunt in a remote area of sea off its west coast and officials said despite the discovery, they would continue with their examination of the area.
Investigators believe based on satellite data that for some reason the plane – en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing – turned south into the Indian Ocean after vanishing from radar.
Officials said if the wing part is from the plane, it would lay to rest theories that it travelled north, or landed somewhere after being hijacked. It could also help to answer whether the plane crashed nose first or broke up on impact as the pilot possibly tried to land on water. The wing piece is about six feet long and encrusted in barnacles which could provide clues as to how long it had been in the ocean.
An aviation mechanic said he had studied the debris and concluded with 99.9 per cent certainty that based on its serial number it originated from a 777.
Flaperons are located on the rear edge of both wings. When the plane is banking, the flaperon on one wing tilts up and the other tilts down, which makes the plane roll to the left or right as it turns.
The piece could help investigators work out how the plane crashed, but whether it will help search crews pinpoint the rest of the wreckage is unclear.
The last primary radar contact with Flight 370 placed its position over the Andaman Sea about 230 miles northwest of the Malaysian city of Penang. Reunion is about 3,500 miles southwest of Penang, and about 2,600 miles west of the current search area.
Oceanographer David Griffin of Australia’s national science agency said the location of the find, was ‘consistent with where we think debris might have turned up’.
‘Where we’d expect debris’