Malaysia Airlines flight MH370: could wreckage found off east coast of Africa be part of missing aircraft?

 
Wreckage: investigators have not ruled out the aircraft part could be from missing flight MH370 (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
Rachel Blundy30 July 2015

Part of an aircraft wreckage found on an island off the east coast of Africa could be part of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, it has emerged.

The piece of debris was washed up on Reunion island, east of Madagascar, after the plane reportedly crashed in the Indian Ocean.

The two-metre-long debris, which appears to be a piece of a wing, was found by employees of an association cleaning the area and handed over to the air transport brigade of the French gendarmerie.

Speculation was rife tonight that the wreckage could be part of the missing Boeing 777, which disappeared in March last year.

Investigation: police carry a piece of debris from an unidentified aircraft found in the coastal area of Saint-Andre de la Reunion (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images

The Beijing bound flight was carrying 239 passengers, most of whom were Chinese, and crew from Kuala Lumpur.

Its disappearance remains one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history.

Search efforts led by Australia have focused on a broad expanse of the southern Indian Ocean, but no part of the wreckage has ever been found.

Xavier Tytelman, an expert in aviation security, told the MailOnline it could not be ruled out that the wreckage belonged to MH370.

He said: "In a few days, we will have a definitive answer."

But officials have played down the suggestions that the wreckage could be part of the missing aircraft. The debris was discovered more than 3,800 miles away from where the plane was last seen.

Missing plane?: the debris appears to be part of an aircraft's wing (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images

Eric Chesneau, an officer in the air transport police of the French Indian Ocean territory told Reuters: "People are getting ahead of themselves over this.

"It is more than likely plane debris, (but) we don't know what exact part it may be."

Neither the French civil aviation authority DGAC nor the BEA, the agency responsible for investigating aviation accidents, were immediately available for comment.

Additional reporting by Reuters

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