Malaysia said on Sunday that airplane debris that washed up on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion has been identified as being from a Boeing 777, the same model as Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 which vanished early last year.
“We know the flaperon has been officially identified as being part of a Boeing 777 aircraft,” Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in a statement.
“This has been verified by French authorities together with aircraft manufacturer Boeing, U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Malaysian team comprising the Department of Civil Aviation, Malaysia Airlines, and Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370.”
Meanwhile…
A second piece of suspected plane debris has washed ashore on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, after a wing part suspected to come from the missing flight MH370 was found on Wednesday.
The object, believed to be the door of an aircraft, was discovered just south of the city of St Denis.
It is said to have writing on it and possibly some illustration.
The Malaysia Airlines plane from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared last March with 239 people on board.
The first piece of wreckage has gone to France, where investigators in the city of Toulouse will seek to establish if it came from MH370.
It is believed to be a wing flap from a Boeing 777 - the same type of aircraft as the one that vanished.
Fragments of a suitcase found on the same beach in St Andre are also to be examined.
Investigators will begin work this Wednesday.
An Australian-led search effort for the plane has been focused on a vast area of the southern Indian Ocean about 4,000km (2,500 miles) to the east of Reunion.
Authorities believe MH370 veered off course on the way to Beijing and crashed into the sea - but they do not know why.
Its estimated last location was based on “pings” sent from the aircraft that were detected by satellite.
However, no physical trace has been found.