Australia says initial MH370 debris drift models gave wrong clues

Experts believed that the wreckage came from the Boeing 777, arguing that the code “657 BB” appearing in the debris picture corresponds to a manual code in the aircraft.

If confirmed to be from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, could a small portion of plane wing discovered on an Indian Ocean island be the clue investigators need to unlock one of aviation’s biggest mysteries?

Local police and Malaysian crews are working to discover more debris and possible clues to the fate of the plane.

Even if the flaperon is identified as part of the missing flight, it would only confirm that MH370 has crashed.

A fragment of luggage that was also found in the area is with the aircraft debris in France for specialist DNA testing. However, nothing yet indicated that it was linked to the missing aircraft.

But last week’s discovery of a two-metre-long wing part called a flaperon on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion raised fresh hopes for relatives desperate for answers. Covering all of it is expected to take the search teams well into next year.

French officials in Réunion say they are anxious the investigation could be flooded with other washed-up items that have no link with Flight MH370 and could slow down the investigation.

A representative for JACC told Xinhua Tuesday that any information about the debris that washed up on the island could help authorities refine the search area that now covers a 120,000 square kilometer (46,332 square miles) strip in the southern Indian Ocean.

Malaysia’s deputy transport minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said: “I believe that we are moving closer to solving the mystery of MH370”. A flapron is the moving part of a plane’s wing surface. The serrated damage at the trailing edge of the flaperon is most likely a result of transonic flutter caused by excessive speeds of the aircraft as would be experienced in a dive scenario performed intentionally or following fuel run-out.

The part has been confirmed as coming from a Boeing 777.

Initially it was reported to be part of a plane door, but officials said it turned out to be a “domestic ladder”.

If the debris reveals evidence of an explosion or structural failure, it would significantly alter calculations about the plane’s final resting place and allow investigators to refocus their search. “It would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage, except to say that we continue to work closely with co-reinsurers and all involved parties to support our client, Malaysia Airlines, as fully and quickly as possible”.