A piece of suspected plane wreckage has been found off the coast of southern Thailand, a local official said on Saturday, prompting speculation it might belong to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which vanished almost two years ago. Liow added that although pictures of the debris published by a news agency indicated that it could be a part of a Boeing 777, it was too early to link it to MH370. In a scathing attack at the relevant parties, they said: “It is worth remembering that we do not have any assurance from aviation authorities, manufacturers, ICAO and the like, that there will not be another MH370 scenario in future”.
Advertisement
Gibson, who is from Seattle, said the piece of debris is now in the hands of civil aviation authorities in Mozambique, and that he expects it to be transferred to their Australian counterparts.
“Most experts and the official search authorities believe the plane flew south rather than north”, Gibson writes in a blog on his search. They said Boeing experts would be among those examining it.
The flaperon bore a stenciled internal marking “657 BB”, which is consistent with a flaperon from a Boeing 777.
Gibson said he started actively searching for the plane in the past year, going to beaches in the Maldives, Mauritius, Cambodia, Myanmar and the French island of Reunion, and funding his search out of his own pocket.
The 3.3-foot piece of metal was found last weekend on a sandbank in the Mozambique Channel – the ocean strait between Mozambique and Madagascar.
“We would like to get hold of the debris as soon as possible, so that’s why we are working with Australia in the fastest manner”, Liow said.
Gibson said he’s keen to exercise caution around the significance of his find, sharply aware of the impact it could have on victims’ families.
Investigators hope that once the part arrives, they will be able to confirm whether or not the piece is from Flight 370 within a matter of days, Dolan said.
The discovery was reported to officials Monday, and Gibson handed over his find to Mozambique authorities, said Cmdr.
Families of 12 passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 today sued the carrier and the government, ahead of a filing deadline next week on the second anniversary of the plane’s disappearance.
Still, some family members of those on board remain skeptical.
The area being scoured, off Western Australia, was identified using analysis of where the plane was calculated to last emit a satellite “handshake” and how the jet went down. Unless and until we have strong proof and authenticated reasons behind the disappearance of MH370, we can not believe stories.
“Neither did it look like it had been in the ocean for two years, (or look like it had been) lying on a sandbar where allegedly found as there was no sign of sand filling the honeycomb structure”. Australia has contributed A$60m to the search costs while the Malaysian government has promised to cover the remaining A$100m and China has offered to cover the A$20m shortfall.
Advertisement
Grace, who leads an annual commemoration for the disappeared aircraft, said there was less participation this year, compared to last year when there was greater enthusiasm to keep alive the memories of MH370.
