Malaysia on Thursday confirmed that a large piece of aircraft debris that was found on the island of Pemba, off the coast of Tanzania, was from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet MH370.
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In addition, the Italian part manufacturer has confirmed that all numbers on the discovered object relates to the same serial number outboard flap that was shipped to Boeing as line number 404, which was consistent with the part used on the plane delivered to Malaysia Airlines, registered as 9M-MRO for the MH370 plane.
“Further examination of the debris will continue, in hopes that further evidence may be uncovered, which may provide new insight into the circumstances surrounding flight MH370”, he added.
Authorities had earlier said the piece of debris was “highly likely” to have come from MH370.
Flight MH370 with 239 persons on board went missing on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with available data indicating that the plane flew into the waters of the southern Indian Ocean. The investigators will also search for any signs of fire on the plane before it went missing.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau anticipates search crews will complete their sweep of the 120,000-square kilometer (46,000-square mile) search zone in the Indian Ocean off Australia’s west coast by December.
The search is almost finished, however, and families are bracing for it to be called off.
Investigators have previously confirmed a piece of plane debris found on the French island of Reunion in July 2015 as being part of MH370.
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Gibson, a lawyer, who has travelled the world trying to solve the MH370 mystery, told Australian reporters the debris had washed up in Madagascar.
