A previous piece of airplane debris, which investigators believe is a “flaperon” from the wing of a Boeing 777, was found on the island Wednesday. “We shouldn’t expect miracles from this analysis”, said Jean-Paul Troadec, former head of France’s BEA civil aviation investigating authority.
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He tweeted: “The flaperon is officially identified as being part of a Boeing 777″.
Locals on La Reunion island have been combing the shores since the wing part was found last Wednesday, handing over bits of what they believe to be wreckage to police.
Malaysian officials said Sunday that they would seek help from territories near the island where a suspected piece of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet was discovered to try to find more plane debris.
But other items found at the weekend were not from an aircraft.
But reports the debris came from a plane haven’t been confirmed, and Malaysian officials have cast doubt on the object’s origin, according to the BBC.
The flight’s mysterious disappearance, which saw it vanish off radars as a key transponder appeared to have been shut off, has baffled aviation experts and grieving families and given rise to a myriad conspiracy theories.
Experts from various nations have teamed up to help with the probe in France. “We need the closure and all the evidence possible so that we can go ahead with our lives”, said Nur Laila Ngah, the wife of the flight’s chief steward Wan Swaid Wan Ismail.
If confirmed, the piece of wreckage would be the first bit of physical evidence recovered from MH370.
The jetliner vanished on March 8, 2014 after leaving Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for Beijing.
The French General Directorate of Armament, which is analyzing the debris, has sophisticated equipment and expertise to quickly identify the plane the debris belongs to and what happened to it.
It would also bolster Australian officials’ confidence that they are searching for the rest of the plane’s wreckage in roughly the right place, he said, as models of ocean currents make it credible that some debris would drift to the region around Reunion.
On the island police had also collected Sunday a mangled piece of metal inscribed with two Chinese characters and attached to what appears to be a leather-covered handle.
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A preliminary assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies, produced in the wake of the MH370 disaster, suggested someone in the cockpit deliberately caused the aircraft’s movements before the Malaysian airliner disappeared.
