Large metal chuck investigated after washing onto Thai beach

He added that the public should not share unverified news lest it “causes more pain to the victims’ family members”.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said he instructed Malaysian civil aviation officials to contact Thailand about the newly found wreckage, a curved piece of metal measuring about 2 meters by 3 meters (6 ½ feet by 10 feet) with electrical wires hanging from it and numbers stamped on it in several places.

Speaking to reporters after the arrival of the maiden AirAsia Guangzhou-Langkawi flight, he urged all quarters not to speculate on the matter.

National news service Bernama reported Thai police saying the metal part has been moved to the Pak Phanang district police station pending examination by aviation experts.

The find prompted speculation about the MAS airliner on flight MH370 which disappeared in 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

Big catch: Fishermen lead authorities to the debris they found yesterday morning on a beach in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Pak Phanang district.

There has been no official confirmation yet that the wreckage belongs to a plane.

A metal piece that washed up on the island of Reunion off east Africa in July a year ago was later confirmed by French authorities to be a part of the plane’s wing, but no other traces have been reported since.

While debris can drift thousands of miles (kilometers) on ocean currents, that location would be a surprise based on the data from Flight MH370. The flight was then tracked by military radar deviating from its planned northeasterly flight path and heading toward the southern Indian Ocean, where it is believed to have crashed after running out of fuel.

Another aviation expert, Geoffrey Thomas told Reuters the fragment found “just doesn’t look like aircraft fuselage”, adding that he couldn’t see “any connection with MH370 whatsoever”.

Its deputy director-general, Amphawan Wannako said the department, with the support of Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) officers would also airlift the debris to Bangkok tomorrow.