The Malaysia Airlines aircraft disappeared in March 2014 during a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, carrying 239 passengers and crew.
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Two of the pieces of the debris look to be burned, and the victim’s families are looking to present the new evidence in hopes of getting authorities to define a new search area and continue their quest to find the missing aircraft.
An American amateur investigator handed over several pieces of blackened debris to Australia’s Transport Safety Bureau on Monday in what may prove to be a breakthrough in one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history.
Debris hunter Blaine Gibson said the pieces strongly resemble some of the paneling used in the Boeing 777 Avionics Bay, which is located below and behind the cockpit under the main cabin floor.
The ATSB confirmed in a statement that it had received debris from Mr Gibson and was seeking advice from Malaysia on how Australia should proceed.
“The top layer of paint has been signed, scorched black”, Gibson told Channel 7 Perth after touching down in Australia.
“If those are found to be from MH370 and if it is discovered that the fire took place before the crash, then this is a real game changer that could help identify what was the cause of the planes demise”.
Eight relatives of lost passengers who met with Australian officials coordinating the search on behalf of Malaysia expressed frustration that they were not given a definition of what constituted credible new evidence that would result in a continuation of the search.
Canberra has been leading the massive search for MH370 within the 120,000-square-kilometer (46,000-square-mile) search zone set to be fully scoured by December.
The items appear to show damage clearly done by fire or high temperatures, which may prove a breakthrough in the thus far stalled search for the truth of what really happened on board the fateful flight.
The area was defined under the “most likely” scenario that no one was at the controls as the plane ran out of fuel.
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The first piece of debris found from MH370 – a two-meter wing part known as a flaperon – washed up on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion in July 2015.
