‘Plane Wreckage’ Found in Thailand, Speculated As Missing Malaysian Jet MH370

Beijing-bound MH370 vanished an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in March 2014, carrying 239 passengers and crewmembers, including 152 Chinese citizens.

A piece of metal found off the coast of southern Thailand fuelled speculation that it could be from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Last July, a two-metre-long wing part known as a flaperon washed up on a beach on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, giving the first firm evidence that the flight met a tragic end.

The debris was found on the eastern coast of southern Thailand’s Nakkon Si Thammarat province, about 370 miles (600 kilometers) south of Bangkok on the Gulf of Thailand.

On Saturday, another piece of possible aircraft debris was found off the coast of southern Thailand, although experts and officials have cast doubt on the idea it might belong to MH370, as prevailing currents would be unlikely to carry debris there from the southern India Ocean.

A report from CNN said that they were told by Deputy Director General Umphawan Wannago that the Thai Civil Aviation Department is set to deploy air accident investigators to the site where the debris was found on Monday.

The Australian-led quest to find downed Malaysia Airlines passenger plane MH370 has suffered another setback, with the search ship’s tethered sonar vehicle breaking loose at the weekend.

“From seeing the pictures in local news, this is definitely not a piece from military aircraft, but it looks like a section from a big commercial aircraft in my personal opinion”, Chief Marshal Pongsak Semachai said.

Did another piece of the infamous Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 plane just wash up? And Patthikongpan added that “fishermen said it could have been under the sea for no more than a year, judging from barnacles on it”.

Australian Transport Safety Bureau spokesman Dan O’Malley said the agency was awaiting results of an official examination of the debris.

Lingering uncertainty surrounding the fate of the plane has tormented the families of those on board.

The Fugro Discovery, one of three ships conducting the search, towed its side-scan sonar into a mud volcano that rose 2,200 meters (7,200 feet) from the sea floor on Sunday, the bureau said in a statement. “I don’t think there’s any connection with MH370 whatsoever”.