French air crash investigators warned yesterday that the mystery of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight may remain intact even if they confirm claims that a washed-up wing part came from the aircraft.
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Yes, and also eliminate theories of the plane crashing or landing in another part of the world. It had been earlier determined that the flaperon was part of a Boeing 777.
Depending on the species of barnacles found on the flaperon, which appears relatively clean, investigators might also be able to estimate where the piece has been, scientists said.
Mark Tuttle, a professor in mechanical engineering at the University of Washington, said in an email that all structural materials used in transport aircraft are heavy enough they will sink in saltwater. Detailed analysis of the fracture surfaces of the fastener locations from the recovered flaperon will reveal whether any defect(s) were a contributing factor to the detachment of the flaperon from the wing.
Mark Hamann, an associate professor at James Cook University in Townsville who has investigated barnacles on turtles as part of his research, agrees the find could be one of several different tools which help piece together what happened to MH370. “Which means it’s also way far from where the search for the plane has been concentrated”, primarily off the western coast of Australia.
A media report said it looked like a porthole frame of a plane.
“For this reason, thorough and methodical search efforts will continue to be focused on the defined underwater search area, covering 120,000 square kilometres, in the southern Indian Ocean“.
Coastguard ships were deployed Monday in the search, while appeals were made to private boats and fishermen to inform police if they sighted any possible wreckage, Mr Duval said.
But the lack of damage to the front makes it more likely the plane was in a high-speed, steep, spiral descent and the part fluttered until it broke off, the group said.
Ferrier said he found the object in Saint Denis, the same place where an airplane wing was found last week.
To learn more, the flight data recorders – or so-called black boxes – will be crucial.
David Gallo, director of special projects at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, said that the newly discovered debris can not help narrow down the search area and it is almost impossible to locate where the plane crashed with reverse engineering.
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He said the amount of floating debris would be determined by the way the plane hit the water, which remains unknown.
