Possible Malaysia Airlines MH370 Wreckage Found on Reunion Island

[Updated 9.41am] Investigators are examining "a piece of debris" found on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean that seems to be consistent with a Boeing 777, the same type of aircraft that Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was operating when it disappeared on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing, Reuters reported Thursday.

Representatives of France's Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses, that country's air crash investigation agency, were looking at the item, which a source told The Associated Press could be said with "a high degree of confidence" is from a Boeing 777, although whether or not it may be from MH370 could not be stated.

Reunion Island lies 175 kilometers southwest of Mauritius, which itself is about 2,000 kilometers southeast of the coast of Africa. If found to be from MH370, then the debris either floated thousands of kilometers to the west from the current search area near the west coast of Australia, or may indicate that the aircraft flew much farther west over the Indian Ocean before crashing than previously believed.

"In the event that the wreckage is identified as being from MH370 on La Reunion Island, it would be consistent with other analysis and modeling that the resting place of the aircraft is in the southern Indian Ocean," Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said in a statement, Reuters reported.

The piece of debris is believed to be a flaperon, more commonly known as a "flap," which is used during aircraft take-off and landing, the report said. A photo of the debris, which clearly looks like a piece of aircraft wing, was shown on the CNN program "Anderson Cooper 360."

"If this is a piece of the wing, then the little thread of hope I’ve been holding onto will have to break," said former Beijing resident and contributor to the Beijinger's sister publication beijingkids Sarah Bajc, whose partner Philip Wood is missing aboard MH370, appearing on the CNN show.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Over 16 months after the plane vanished with 239 people on board, searchers have not found a single piece of wreckage, a single drop of oil, or a solitary life jacket.

One hundred fifty-two of the passengers were Chinese, most of them local. A number of Beijing-based expatriates were also aboard, including most members of a French family, a couple traveling without their children, and a businessman on his final flight to Beijing before completing a move Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian and Australian officials have been searching for wreckage in the southern Indian Ocean, about 1,800 kilometers west of Perth, Australia. Satellite pings indicate the plane may have taken this course and continued until it ran out of fuel or was forced down.

The plane's disappearance has become the greatest aviation mystery of the 21st century, and will remain so until its wreckage is discovered and its deviation from the flight plan explained.

More stories by this author here.

Email: stevenschwankert@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @greatwriteshark
Weibo:​ @SinoScuba潜水

Photo: Google Maps, CNN