(Newswire.net — August 6, 2015) — The first piece from Malaysian Boeing 777 has been discovered stranded on the beach at a remote island in Indian Ocean, ABC reported. The part was immediately recognized as the part of a large airplane and was confirmed Wednesday to belong to ill-fated Malaysian MH-370, that vanished more than a year ago.
The debris was discovered by an environmental worker who recognized it as a part from an airplane. The partwas identified as a “flaperon,” a Boeing 777 wing segment. The barnacle-crusted flaperon was later transported to Toulouse, France for further investigation. There it was confirmed to be an authentic MH-370 piece.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you, an international team of experts has conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion is indeed from MH370,” Prime Minister Najib Razak said at a brief press conference.
“We now have physical evidence that … Flight MH370 tragically ended in the Southern Indian Ocean,” he told media.
Until official confirmation, French experts who examine the debris stated there were “strong presumptions” the part was from MH370.
This part alone is unlikely to shed light on a reason behind mystery crash of aircraft, scientists hope they may locate other parts by narrowing the field on search around the Reunion Island. The fact that the debris washed ashore an entire year after the crash, however, may indicate that the actual crash site wasn’t anywhere nearby.
Some experts, however, believe the flaperon could tell more if the investigation concludes it was lowered at the time of the impact, and that force actually ripped the part off. If this is confirmed, it indicates that the pilot intentionally tried to land an airplane on the ocean’s surface, following the emergency landing procedure.
“We’ll have to look at that piece and have to gather every bit of information from it that we can,” said Former NTSB Office of Aviation Safety Director Tom Haueter, an ABC News contributor.
“We might get a better idea of what happened to this airplane during the final moments of flight when it hit the ocean,” Haueter said.
Reportedly, the search parties are combing beaches in order to find more floating debris.