Tests on the plane’s flaperon – a wing fragment – revealed it is from a Boeing 777 and results on whether it is from the MH370 plane are expected on Wednesday. Investigators have packaged the items and sent them to laboratories in France for further analysis.
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Analysts hope to glean details from metal stress to see what caused the flap to break off, spot explosive or other chemical traces, and study the sea life that made its home on the wing to pinpoint where it came from.
Some reports overnight claimed that debris that could have come from the plane washed up previously on beaches on La Reunion had been burned because it was not thought significant.
The debris, which was first flown to Paris, was driven to a military base near Toulouse, which specialises in analysing aviation wreckage. “Only after they verify the internal parts of the flaperon can they be sure that it is from MH370”. It’s also unlikely to solve the mystery of why the plane flew wildly off course and dropped off radar.
Oceanographers have said these are compatible with debris floating toward the eastern extremity of the Indian Ocean and islands such as Madagascar and Réunion. Along with Malaysia and China, Australia recently agreed to increase the search area to an astonishing 46,000 square miles of ocean.
“Any new information that comes to hand that might help refine the search area will be incorporated into search planning”.
“We have responded positively to a request from the government of Malaysia“, Deputy Prime Minister Xavier-Luc Duval told reporters on Monday.
He said: “I don’t think any debris being washed up is likely to give us much advice about precisely where in this enormous ocean the aircraft is actually located”.
“But as I said, we still need to confirm that through closer study”.
While the flaperon has set off a flurry of searching on Reunion and beyond, it appears unlikely to prolong or widen the Australian-led underwater search.
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There were 239 passengers and crew on board MH370 when it vanished in March 2014.
