It is understood that French authorities sent a Casa marine surveillance aircraft to the area from Reunion but could not find any sign of the debris.
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An Air France official said a crew from their airline reported seeing something white floating in water about 56 kilometres north of Reunion Island, in the Indian Ocean. The Air France pilot who seen the object was flying at an altitude of about 10,000 feet and could not give specific coordinates.
French police officers carry a washed-up piece of airplane debris found in July on a remote island in the Indian Ocean as part of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
Australian officials said they were confident the plane would be found in the search area, which is scheduled to have been completely combed by the end of June 2016.
Siva Vadivelou, assistant director of the French Civil Aviation Authority on Reunion Island, said “it must be a voluminous object for the pilot to see it”, according to CNN.
The plane carrying 239 passengers disappeared on March 8 previous year while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
French investigators have confirmed that the piece was part of the missing plane.
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Malaysian authorities revealed later that military radar had tracked the plane as it turned back to the west and flew across the Malaysian Peninsula, up the Strait of Malacca, before flying out of radar range at 2:14 a.m. and vanishing once again.
