Malaysia says plane debris found on Reunion Island part of Boeing 777 Sunday Aug 02,2015

 

Malaysia said on Sunday Aug 02,2015 that the plane debris that washed up on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion has been identified as being from a Boeing 777, the same model as Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 which vanished in March 2014 with 239 people on board.The Boeing 777-200 plane of Malaysia Airlines went missing on March 8, 2014, an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 239 people on board, including five Indians and one Indian-Canadian.

Experts hope the 2-2.5 metre wing surface, known as a flaperon, and a fragment of luggage found on Reunion could yield clues on the fate of Flight MH370.

"We know the flaperon has been officially identified as being part of a Boeing 777 aircraft," Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in a statement.

"This has been verified by French authorities together with aircraft manufacturer Boeing, U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Malaysian team comprising the Department of Civil Aviation, Malaysia Airlines, and Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370."

The flaperon was flown to Paris on Saturday and was taken to Toulouse to undergo more detailed analysis.

Representatives from Malaysia, the United States, China, France and Boeing are due to participate in a "verification" of the flaperon on Wednesday. 

More pieces of metal debris found washed up on Reunion were taken into police custody on Sunday. 

Discovery of the debris may finally confirm the plane crashed into the sea after veering off course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, helping to end 16 months of lingering uncertainty for relatives.