Reunion island debris ‘same model as MH370’

Experts will determine whether the debris found on the French territory of Reunion Island last week is from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

The transport minister, Liow Tiong Lai, said: “We know the flaperon has been officially identified as being part of a Boeing 777 aircraft”.

In this March 15, 2014, photo, paper planes with personalized messages dedicated to people involved with the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner MH370, are placed at the viewing gallery of Kuala Lumpur global Airport, in Sepang, Malaysia.

Other items recently found near the suspected Boeing 777 wing part have not been confirmed as belonging to a plane.

He said he was on his daily patrol of La Reunion in May, picking up debris from the beach, when he spotted what he thought looked like a bus seat.

After arriving in Paris, the debris was then transferred by road to a military-run laboratory near the southwestern city of Toulouse that specialises in analysing aviation wreckage.

Sky News too reported about the object washed up on Reunion Island.

Dolan said last week that he is “increasingly confident but not yet certain” that the debris is from MH370.

Police on the Indian Ocean island also collected Sunday a mangled piece of metal inscribed with two Chinese characters and attached to what appears to be a leather-covered handle.

The French government has also made available at the disposal of the Malaysian authorities all of the technology and expertise at the Aeronautical Testing Centre in Toulouse and Paris to aid in the investigations.

In addition to the aircraft, 239 people on board went unaccounted for.

The experts, who have not been identified, are known to be from China, Malaysia and France.

Malaysian Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz said that according to Malaysia Airlines, the debris has been confirmed as part of a Boeing 777, yet that did not necessarily mean it actually belonged to flight MH370.

One of the pieces spotted just north of where the wing debris was found turned out to be an ordinary ladder.

Experts have previously said the debris’ arrival – more than 2,000 miles away on Reunion – is consistent with that theory.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board will also join the probe. “We will wait for verification from the French authorities”, he said.