France combs land, sea, and air of Reunion for more MH370 debris

France is adding airplanes, helicopters and ships, including French Marine units, to its search for the remains of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, the government in Paris reported Friday.

Separately, local authorities for the island district where the first piece of debris was found said they would organise a thorough search for other parts from the plane starting Monday.

Investigators on the French-governed island of Reunion have collected a piece of wing that Malaysia has said came from MH370, the first real clue in what has become one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history.

The flight, with 239 people, including 153 Chinese citizens, on board, vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March last year, and authorities said it went down in the southern Indian Ocean.

Those items include seat cushions and window panes that the Malaysian officials report were sent to France as part of this investigation, but the French investigators have denied this claim. Earlier they gathered at an office in the hope of meeting Malaysian officials, although none arrived.

Dominique Sorain, the top French government official for Reunion, said that a military transport plane and a ship had started exploring the island’s coastal waters but had to turn back because of bad weather.

Prosecutors in France, where the debris was flown for examination, declined to be so sure, saying it was likely from the doomed flight but noting, “What we can say today there is very strong presumption, very strong likeness, that the flaperon we found should belong to MH370″.

Mr Liow said he understood why the French team had been less categorical.

Malaysia has come under heavy criticism from relatives and friends of missing passengers and crew for allegedly jumping the gun, giving inaccurate statements and withholding information.

There is confusion about whether more debris found on Reunion Island has come from missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, or whether it is from a plane at all. In a handwritten statement posted on Chinese social media and signed “All MH370 passengers’ relatives”, a number of those with missing loved ones expressed “serious doubts” over Najib’s announcement.

“We request that the Malaysian government give us an explanation for this”, said Cheng Liping, whose husband was on board MH370, referring to the discrepancy.

In this image provided by the University of Western Australia on July 31, 2015, depicts how computer modeling was used in mid-2014 to show how debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 might have drifted over time.

Analysts, however, call the find a clear step forward by eliminating theories that plane might have landed somewhere, and confirming the search was roughly on the right track.