"We remain confident that we're searching in the right place, and if in fact the plane parts found on Reunion Island are linked to MH370, that would rather strengthen the case that we are in the right area," said Transport and Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss.
He added: "The fact that this wreckage was sighted on the northern part of the Reunion Island is consistent with the current movements" from the search area.
Malaysian investigators are expected in Reunion on Friday and the object, identified by aviation experts as part of a wing, would then be sent to a French military laboratory near Toulouse for checks, French police sources said.
No more precise information on the wreckage’s location
National carrier Malaysia Airlines was operating a Boeing 777 when the ill-fated flight disappeared in March last year en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, creating one of the most baffling mysteries in aviation history. It was carrying 239 passengers and crew.
The plane piece was found on Wednesday washed up on Reunion, a volcanic island of 850,000 people that is a part of France, located in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar.
Reunion is roughly 3,700 km (2,300 miles) from the broad expanse of the southern Indian Ocean off Australia where search efforts have focused, but officials and experts said currents could have carried wreckage that way, thousands of kilometres from where the plane is thought to have crashed.
MH370 is believed to be the only 777 to have crashed south of the equator since the jet came into service 20 years ago.
If the debris is confirmed to be from MH370, experts will try to retrace its drift back to where the bulk of the plane likely sank on impact. However, they cautioned that the discovery was unlikely to provide any more precise information about the aircraft's final resting place.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS and AFP)
france24.com
31/7/15
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Malaysian official: Debris confirmed to be from Boeing 777...
ReplyDeleteThe debris discovered on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean is part of a Boeing 777, local media quoted Malaysian Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi as saying on Friday.
Aziz said the flaperon washed ashore on a beach was part of a Boeing 777 aircraft, according to The Star, a Malaysian English language newspaper.
However, Aziz said it did not mean the debris was from the missing flight MH370.
"Yes, MAS (Malaysia Airlines) told me that the part number of that flaperon is a Boeing 777, but it doesn't mean that it belongs to MH370," said the official.
"It confirms that the flaperon belongs to a (Boeing) 777," he added.
The piece of plane debris has led investigators a step closer to solving the mystery of MH370, officials from Malaysia's transport ministry said.
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said Wednesday that Malaysia had sent a team to Reunion Island to determine whether the debris part comes from the missing MH370 flight.
All 239 passengers on board of the MH370 are presumed dead after it went missing not long after takeoff on March 8, 2014.
The physical search for the jet is halfway through, and covers more than 120,000 square km of sea bed.
china.org.cn
31/7/15
More debris washed ashore on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion is being investigated after a wing part suspected to come from missing flight MH370 was found on Wednesday....
ReplyDeleteIt was thought one object discovered south of the city of St Denis may have been part of a door.
But police say it is not yet being treated as evidence and Malaysian officials cast doubt on it.
MH370 disappeared in March last year with 239 people on board.
The Malaysia Airlines flight was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
'Mangled metal'
An Australian-led search effort for the plane has so far focused on a vast area of the southern Indian Ocean about 4,000km (2,500 miles) to the east of Reunion.
No physical trace of the aircraft has been found................http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33750811
2/8/15
New debris found on island in hunt for MH370 answers...
ReplyDeleteInvestigators probing missing flight MH370 collected more metallic debris on an Indian Ocean island Sunday as Malaysia urged authorities in the region to be on alert for wreckage washing up on their shores.
Locals on La Reunion island have been combing the shores since a Boeing 777 wing part was found last Wednesday, sparking fevered speculation that it may be the first tangible evidence that the Malaysia Airlines plane crashed into the Indian Ocean.
An AFP photographer early Sunday saw police collect a mangled piece of metal inscribed with two Chinese characters and attached to what appears to be a leather-covered handle.
The debris, measuring about 100 square centimeters (15 square inches), was placed into an iron case.
Also on Sunday morning a man handed police a piece of debris measuring 70 centimeters (27 inches), guessing it was part of a plane door.
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said civil aviation authorities were reaching out to their counterparts in other Indian Ocean territories to be on the lookout for further debris...............japantimes.co.jp
2/8/15