“Our records show that it’s the same as MH370”. K.S. Narendran, whose wife was a passenger on the ill-fated flight MH370, told CNN that after listening to the two very different reports, “I was left somewhat confused and, frankly, a little angry and dismayed”.
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The hunt for clues to the fate of MH370 has been given new impetus by an announcement by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Thursday that a wing part found last week on Reunion had been “conclusively” identified as being from the plane.
The airline described the find as “a major breakthrough”.
Elaine Chew, wife of steward Tan Size Hiang, said that it was hard to find any kind of closure as what happened to the plane remained a mystery.
Mr Liow said he understood why the French team had been less categorical in their conclusions over the flaperon, saying: “We respect their decision to continue with their verification”.
“These are all the experts from the technical side, from Malaysian team, and they train in these areas, so they will be able to identify whether it is aircraft material or whether it is cushion aircraft material”, he said in an interview. Opposition lawmaker Liew Chin Tong said in a statement that Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai must explain “the haste and hurry” to declare the wreckage came from Flight 370. “I can not confirm that it’s from MH370”.
The Boeing 777 was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March 2014 when it vanished from radar.
However, the request to extend the original search area in the southern Indian Ocean is likely to meet with resistance in Australia.
La Reunion is about 3,700 kilometres west of the primary search area off the south-west coast of Australia.
The flaperon was manufactured by EADS CASA Espacio LS, a Madrid-based aircraft company that is now a division of Airbus Group SE, another person familiar with the probe said. Investigators in France weren’t so sure quite yet. These folks have been under such a blanket of the unknown for more than a year.
The site of the probe – jointly funded by Australia and Malaysia with a budget of more than Aus$100 million (US$74 million) – is so remote that it takes the ships up to six days to reach it from the Australian port of Fremantle where they routinely refuel and restock.
“Of course, there is still some I’s not dotted and T’s not crossed. There is still a very small element of doubt”, he said.
Privately, however, there were questions about why Najib had moved forward with the statement before all countries had agreed.
After Malaysian and French authorities disagreed on the certainty of Prime Minister Najib’s statements on Wednesday, The Guardian rounded up the most prominent theories for what, besides grave human error, could have caused the plane to crash.
The conflicting information has added yet another layer of confusion to an already chaotic situation for family members who have been agonizing for the past 17 months.
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“Why the hell do you have one confirm and one not?” said Sara Weeks, the sister of New Zealander Paul Weeks, who was on board.
